Jury Duty

[steve_rob]

And the US is not unique in jury trials. This comes from the English system and they still have jury trials in England, although other parts of the UK have different rules.

As someone living in the UK, while all parts of the country still have jury trials here, I can affirm that the rules here do vary between each country, especially between England and Scotland.

However I was surprised at how many times people in the US get called up for Jury Duty compared to here - despite being in my 40's, I've never been called up (and would quite like to experience it, to be honest) and my parents, who would now be ineligible due to being over the age limit, they both only ever got called once each, so it seems it's quite rare.

I wonder if that's because in the UK the rules on defence and prosecution lawyers being able to reject jurors is very tight - they can't just object to everyone they don't like, so therefore they need a much smaller pool of potential jurors, which means the requests come around a lot less frequently?

 

[wgeo]

Probably because so many residents eligible for jury duty wnill do whatever they can to wriggle their way out - see post # 79.

Yeah, it's crazy -when you call in to see if you have to show up they said everyone up to number 650 had to show - yet there was only around 200 or so people in the room. That is a lot of people that either didn't show up or got excused. The biggest issue (I think) in my area is that they allow anyone over 65 to be automatically excused and that is a significant portion of our counties population.

 

[skyblue17]

I wonder what would happen to someone who just threw out their jury summons for the last 15 years or so?

Someone on the last case I was on had done this. She simply hadn't shown up! I believe she was ordered to appear and had no say regarding timing/other details, and then she got chosen for our case, which then lasted three weeks. So. It's probably worth it to just go.

Someone on this case ALSO had a vacation planned. Our trial started right before Halloween and ended right before Thanksgiving. His trip was for Thanksgiving week. He was told at the time that the case would not interfere with his vacation, and they basically made SURE everything was wrapped with enough time for us to deliberate so that it would end by then.

I do like the people who are like "I have a life to live and a job to go to," though. Like everyone else showing up for jury duty is doing it because they are bored? Heh.

 

[SC Minnie]

The first time I had jury duty there were a few people that didn't show up in the morning for the initial screening. They were there before lunch accompanied by the deputy sheriff. The judge was not playing and ordered them to go pick up anyone that did not show up.

 

[mumto3girls]

I do like the people who are like "I have a life to live and a job to go to," though. Like everyone else showing up for jury duty is doing it because they are bored? Heh.

I agree with the above to some extent, but I do think that there were times in my life where jury duty would have incredibly disruptive to my life—young children, breastfeeding a baby who had no interest in a bottle, husband who was away for weeks at a time on business, limited childcare options—versus now, when sure, it could be disruptive and inconvenient, but very manageable.

 

[skyblue17]

I agree with the above to some extent, but I do think that there were times in my life where jury duty would have incredibly disruptive to my life—young children, breastfeeding a baby who had no interest in a bottle, husband who was away for weeks at a time on business, limited childcare options—versus now, when sure, it could be disruptive and inconvenient, but very manageable.

Sure. That doesn't mean that some people who don't have those obligations should have to do it more, though, and that's what ends up happening when people decide that their responsibilities are more important than someone else's. Most jury duty situations allow you to postpone for a pretty fair amount of time, definitely enough to bypass spouse's being away, or a young child being older and adapting to feeding options better. I mean, at least you have a husband who IS working so you're still getting an income. When I was on a trial for three weeks, I was on my own and was not being reimbursed for lost wages.

 

[kaytieeldr]

And that anyone part of the humanity can be part of a jury and make a life or death decision is simply frightening.

WEll, no. The jury doesn't choose the sentence. They listen to the evidence, discuss the evidence, and make a majority or unanimous decision regarding the defendant's guilt. How do you make decisions about anything else?

when you call in to see if you have to show up they said everyone up to number 650 had to show - yet there was only around 200 or so people in the room. That is a lot of people that either didn't show up or got excused.

Or they could be using nonconsecutive numbers?

Most jury duty situations allow you to postpone for a pretty fair amount of time,

I
Back in the 80s, my mom started jury duty in. in Federal court on a Tuesday. My dad had a (non-fatal)heart attack that afternoon. Mom got excused from that trial and told she would b. cAop-ed again within a year. Never happened.

 

[bcla]

Or they could be using nonconsecutive numbers?

I'm curious about individual juror numbers. I guess like a draft lottery number?

My county does it through reporting groups for each day. Previously they sent an entire envelope with an excuse form, a juror badge (to place in a holder), and previously a parking permit on one sheet of paper. Now they just send a postcard and direct that the prospective juror can request an excuse online or by phone. My dad asked me to help (he can't seem to figure out some websites) and it had a way to check the status of whether there was an excuse (his was based on age). Previously when the excuses were mailed in they said that one could assume that the excuse was granted if nothing was sent back in the mail to deny the excuse.

 

[kimblebee]

I’d love to serve on a jury. I got called
for the first time last year but didn’t get chosen. One of the cases was a controversial murder case.

 

[Lumpy1106]

Probably because so many residents eligible for jury duty wnill do whatever they can to wriggle their way out - see post # 79.

That's my post and I resent that. I have served on juries - twice. There is a reason why juries are flooded with government workers and retirees - they are the only people who can tell you with certainty that they will have a day/week/month to devote to jury duty 6 months out. For the rest of us; parents with small kids, private industry workers, students, etc. things come up. In this particular case, it was a work deadline that I had just found out about. I had worked through the night the night before, got EXCUSED (did not "wiggle my way out"), then WENT BACK TO WORK, for another solid 12 hours. So no, I could not afford to give THAT day for jury "service", but guess what? That's not an excuse the court will accept. I would still have to show up and be given the 3'rd degree to get a deferral - this is time I didn't have. My way was quicker, and frankly the defense attorney was right - he didn't want me passing judgement on his client given the consequences I was facing if he didn't get rid of me.

You want to know how to REALLY turn off potential jurors tough? Have 100's of them sit around all day and don't call any of them to courtrooms. This has happened to me the last 2 times I have been called. Nothing says "I don't value your time" more than pulling you out of your real life and making you sit around in a room like a prisoner all day.

 

[bcla]

That's my post and I resent that. I have served on juries - twice. There is a reason why juries are flooded with government workers and retirees - they are the only people who can tell you with certainty that they will have a day/week/month to devote to jury duty 6 months out. For the rest of us; parents with small kids, private industry workers, students, etc. things come up. In this particular case, it was a work deadline that I had just found out about. I had worked through the night the night before, got EXCUSED (did not "wiggle my way out"), then WENT BACK TO WORK, for another solid 12 hours. So no, I could not afford to give THAT day for jury "service", but guess what? That's not an excuse the court will accept. I would still have to show up and be given the 3'rd degree to get a deferral - this is time I didn't have. My way was quicker, and frankly the defense attorney was right - he didn't want me passing judgement on his client given the consequences I was facing if he didn't get rid of me.

You want to know how to REALLY turn off potential jurors tough? Have 100's of them sit around all day and don't call any of them to courtrooms. This has happened to me the last 2 times I have been called. Nothing says "I don't value your time" more than pulling you out of your real life and making you sit around in a room like a prisoner all day.

That's just the whims of the jury trial system. Often there's a settlement or plea bargain before a jury trial can start, and the jury pool has to be assembled in advance.

As for juries - I've served on a couple and I don't recall a single government employee. All government employees are exempt from federal jury service and state juries have different rules.

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

How do you feel when you get the notice to serve?

I've only been summoned twice. Once in...1993, but I was at the end of my pregnancy and was dismissed for that reason (good thing, because I went into labor the next week), and again in 1996. Was removed from jury pool because the case we were in the pool for was an assault/rape case, and I had been assaulted/attempted rape not 6 months before, in the same area. (Different guy, my guy was caught as well, but pled out and got a deferred sentance. GRRR Well, at least he'll always have the scars from me biting the hell out of him to remind him of what he did.)


DH has had 2 summons for the county we are in now, in the last 8 years, and one summons for federal court. He wanted to be picked for federal court, lol; the info said it could be anything from a grand jury to a jury for a federal crime. For the federal one, he had to send in a questionaire and it's kept on file for a year, and you can be called at any time in that year. He got the call summons about 2 weeks before the end of the wait year. Hah

 

[mumto3girls]

Sure. That doesn't mean that some people who don't have those obligations should have to do it more, though, and that's what ends up happening when people decide that their responsibilities are more important than someone else's. Most jury duty situations allow you to postpone for a pretty fair amount of time, definitely enough to bypass spouse's being away, or a young child being older and adapting to feeding options better. I mean, at least you have a husband who IS working so you're still getting an income. When I was on a trial for three weeks, I was on my own and was not being reimbursed for lost wages.

I do agree that no one should be excessively burdened, but that doesn’t seem to happen in my area. I am 50 years old, have lived in the same general area all of my life (away during college) and have been called for jury duty once—all the way back in 1997. There were a few years in my early to mid 30’s that serving would have been a hardship and I would have done my best to get out of it. Prior to that I would have enjoyed getting to be a part of the process and I would really like to do it now.

 

[KayaWildfire]

What drives me nuts about jury duty, at least in our area, is the calling in every night nonsense. You either have a trial that week or you don't. DD24 was called last spring for jury duty. She was allowed to defer until summer due to being in graduate school. Fast forward to her week. She's a vet tech so she had to take the week off of work to serve. She doesn't get her wages replaced for jury service, you aren't there, you aren't paid. She was called for a half day on Thursday. Net pay for the week: $17.50. It just really isn't acceptable.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

That's my post and I resent that. I have served on juries - twice. There is a reason why juries are flooded with government workers and retirees - they are the only people who can tell you with certainty that they will have a day/week/month to devote to jury duty 6 months out. For the rest of us; parents with small kids, private industry workers, students, etc. things come up. In this particular case, it was a work deadline that I had just found out about. I had worked through the night the night before, got EXCUSED (did not "wiggle my way out"), then WENT BACK TO WORK, for another solid 12 hours. So no, I could not afford to give THAT day for jury "service", but guess what? That's not an excuse the court will accept. I would still have to show up and be given the 3'rd degree to get a deferral - this is time I didn't have. My way was quicker, and frankly the defense attorney was right - he didn't want me passing judgement on his client given the consequences I was facing if he didn't get rid of me.

You want to know how to REALLY turn off potential jurors tough? Have 100's of them sit around all day and don't call any of them to courtrooms. This has happened to me the last 2 times I have been called. Nothing says "I don't value your time" more than pulling you out of your real life and making you sit around in a room like a prisoner all day.

The right answer though isn't to tip people on how to lie and get out of jury service.

Of course someone should be honest and if they can't be impartial say so but not as a means to get out of it. I get the pushback from your comment. Gripping about the way the system does juries is one thing. Yours went a totally opposite way.

 

[wgeo]

What drives me nuts about jury duty, at least in our area, is the calling in every night nonsense. You either have a trial that week or you don't. DD24 was called last spring for jury duty. She was allowed to defer until summer due to being in graduate school. Fast forward to her week. She's a vet tech so she had to take the week off of work to serve. She doesn't get her wages replaced for jury service, you aren't there, you aren't paid. She was called for a half day on Thursday. Net pay for the week: $17.50. It just really isn't acceptable.

You do think that as a bare minimum they could make the juror pay not so embarrasing. I will get paid $15 for being there from 8 am to 5pm, that's just not ok. I know it is a very complicated system, but it seems like there could be some efficiencies put in place that would allow for less jurors to be sitting around "unused" and to then pay a more appropriate wage to those who are present.

 

[KayaWildfire]

You do think that as a bare minimum they could make the juror pay not so embarrasing. I will get paid $15 for being there from 8 am to 5pm, that's just not ok. I know it is a very complicated system, but it seems like there could be some efficiencies put in place that would allow for less jurors to be sitting around "unused" and to then pay a more appropriate wage to those who are present.

That really is my main gripe with the system. You shouldn't have to take a week off of work and not really get paid anything to be there. If she had been there 5 days that week for the whole day it would be different because our area does pay mileage at least, it would have been better than sitting at home for a week over a half of a day.

 

[Lumpy1106]

The right answer though isn't to tip people on how to lie and get out of jury service.

Of course someone should be honest and if they can't be impartial say so but not as a means to get out of it. I get the pushback from your comment. Gripping about the way the system does juries is one thing. Yours went a totally opposite way.

Where did I ever say I couldn't be impartial? I only enhanced my answers to the attorneys - address the prosecuting attorney as "sir", had immediate answers to questions about peace officers, DA's and attorneys I was friends with, was quick to answer that I could decide guilt - nothing outrageous, and frankly 100% accurate. It was up to them to decide if they wanted me on the jury. The prosecuting attorney was salivating - couldn't wait to have me serve. The defense attorney? Not so much. It's all part of the process. Frankly, based on my age, gender, race, and profession the defense attorney wasn't going to keep me anyway (is that right?). I just made his decision easier.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Where did I ever say I couldn't be impartial? I only enhanced my answers to the attorneys - address the prosecuting attorney as "sir", had immediate answers to questions about peace officers, DA's and attorneys I was friends with, was quick to answer that I could decide guilt - nothing outrageous, and frankly 100% accurate. It was up to them to decide if they wanted me on the jury. The prosecuting attorney was salivating - couldn't wait to have me serve. The defense attorney? Not so much. It's all part of the process. Frankly, based on my age, gender, race, and profession the defense attorney wasn't going to keep me anyway (is that right?). I just made his decision easier.

You suggested people should lie to get out of it, I was saying you should be honest not lie.

TIP FOR GETTING OUT!
This really works. Say you get called, get called to a courtroom, and get seated for voir dire - BUT, you really can't be there - just too much going on in real life. You could play stupid, you could tell the judge you can't be impartial - none of that really works. Your best friend at that point is the LAWYERS! Just pick a side - Ultra-liberal, won't convict anybody, don't see guilt - play to the defense attorney. Or, my choice, everything is black-and-white, dispassionate, play to the prosecuting attorney. Be uber polite to one side, not both. The opposite side would be stupid to keep you and they won't.

I don't care to argue with you but I certainly understand the from other posters at your comment.

 

[kaytieeldr]

She doesn't get her wages replaced for jury service, you aren't there, you aren't paid.

That's an issue constituents need to take up with their respective State Legislators, or one's employer, or both.

know it is a very complicated system, but it seems like there could be some efficiencies put in place that would allow for less jurors to be sitting around "unused" and to then pay a more appropriate wage to those who are present.

Federal jury duty does pay something. More local courts that don't? Like I said above, that's a legislation issue. Or an employee issue, or both.

Honestly, I would suggest that everybody move to Massachusetts https://www.mass.gov/service-details/learn-about-compensation-for-jury-duty (where we also have "one day/one trial") - except that every state needs a broad representation of jurors.

I only enhanced my answers to the attorneys

Enhanced is such an interesting, even potentially euphemistic, word.