Jury Duty

The first questions in jury selection will be "Do you have any experience in law or law enforcement"

Youll have to say yes cause I heard you talking to Ticomya, Deb LAw, and Joe from Chicago.

I do forensic work sometimes and weve talked,

And I think cjhsa is somekind of deranged cop.

Like a demented Barney Fife.




I am being serious though. It bothers me that an employer, especially at large corporations, the kinds that have every imaginable policy about crossing every t and dotting every i, would say a word about someone getting a call to jury.

What am I, an indentured servant?

I'll admit, a large part of it is the way my boss responds to anything any person does or says that involves something that is no ones business from their own.

Like whenever she hears anyone is not available to talk to her, because they're on vacation....it's like she can't believe they had the nerve to take time off.....actually, I'm going to be taking a few days off next week...I'm sure I'm going to have to listen to her "jokingly" say..."oh, so you think you can just take time off?" She does that to any of the managers under her when they tell her they're going away, or just taking time. I've known her long enough to know that she really thinks she's being funny.

Sigh....Mr. Tea is going to be 62 next August....He's on disability and my insurance....I'm really considering encouraging him to get on Medicare at 62 It'll free me up so I don't have this boulder on my back feeling his health care relies on me. I'll be 49, turning 50 that December. Maybe I need to be looking around.

I enjoy jury duty when I get on a good case. The boring part is sitting around waiting for the lawyers and judges, bring a good book. When I lived in NYC I got on a case that was somewhat notorious at the time and to this day it makes for great cocktail party talk. I know I would love to be on a jury with Chai, good thinkers make good jurors. A sense of humor is essential. Go for it, it's American democracy upclose and personal.

the people who complain about jury duty and see it as a disruption in their little lives are the same people who complain about the justice system almost 90% of the time.
It amazes me that people will complain about something, yet when given the ( how ever small ) opportunity to change it, be part of it, or witness it, they scream and whine like babies with a diaper full of ****.

Ohhhhhhhh dont get me on this rant..
oh please dont.

Please, rant away.

I mean, what good is a system if someone feels entitled or something that they don't have to do their part to make it work?

Not only that, why do people vote in support of a system that REQUIRES you to participate then bitch and moan when it is their turn??


So many MANY people complain about criminals being set free, or the justice system failing, yet.. when they are given the opportunity, it is such a disruption to them, they lie and cheat their way out of it thinking they saved themselves some hassle.

I just dont get it.
I really dont..

The problem is when you're self-employed or the sole breadwinner of your family. Here in Canada you get $20 a day for jury duty, but you lose so much more. Some families just can't afford the loss in pay. There are reasons they let you off, one of which is if you're teaching at a university where they can't just call a substitute in to teach your specialty.

Bottom line: If it causes undue hardship, they'll let you off.

But I agree about serving. If you've voted in Canada in any election, you are on their list. I don't know who else is on it, but voters certainly are. So, if you care enough to vote, you should care enough to serve.

Ok, I feel like rambling...

This is about how even when the system functions, those who participate in it really don't give a sh!t sometimes.

When I got called to jury duty a couple a years ago, it was a one day thing.

Ok, my memory may be a little hazy, but here was the case.

Some guy got caught speeding through the UT campus and/or the surrounding area where on housing is. I think he was a graduate student, but a very young one, maybe 23-24. As through most campus, the speed limits are ridiculously slow, like 25 mph, but in this case, the guy was, according to the cop, doing in excess or 45. I've seen UT students wandering around....They're not always quite ready for the grownup world yet, and may wander randomly into the road, so, I can see where this might have been a safety issue.

Anyway, what the guy was saying happened really didn't make a lot of sense, and the cops side of it was pretty cut and dry.

Funny thing, when you are actually sitting on the jury, you do take it seriously, and don't just blow it off, at least I didn't. The facts though just didn't add up in the guys favor.

At one point the cop he was behind the guy, hadn't put his lights one yet. He said the guy applied his brakes as he was going around a curve, but, in spite of his vehicle slowing down, he was STILL pulling away at a faster speed than the cop.

Well, when the jury went to the room, the foreman took a first vote. Most believed he was speeding, 2 people at first said no, but because they had a question that was clarified later, which changed their vote, and 1 lady that just outright said he wasn't speeding.

Well, ok, let's discuss...what was said that brought you to that conclusion?

"I dont' know, I just know he wasn't speeding"

ok, why?

"I don't know"

are you unclear about anything? Do you have any questions?

Finally, she did say "That doesn't make any sense what the cop said about him braking and still moving faster than him"

Well, it can really...What if the guy was going a 100 miles and hour, and the cop 5? If the guy braked, at one point he would be doing 90, and still pulling away from the cop.

"No, that doesn't make any sense"

.....then, the truth came out.....

"Well, I don't know how people do it on YOUR side of town...but on MY side of town, if a cop says your speeding, he's lying"

oh....I see.

Believe it or not, with such a simple case, it was a hung jury, because the guy (who, from how the woman indicated it, was from my side of town) should never have been stopped.

Interesting

I have heard of people doing that.. but I never, in a million years thought it to be true..

but.. well.. yes I did. Who am I kidding.

people who take thier unfounded personal "beef" with police to jury duty are another brand of people who piss me off..

maybe I should start a thread..


People who Piss me off..

I was called a few times back in northern california, and the cases were short term (they asked that we fill out if we had any reason we couldn't do long term, as I remember), and were always settled, or whatever, before any further adieu.


I have issues, well known on a2k, about driving times, so for me, if I get called here in abq, it would matter what time of year it is, me not even being able to walk home from the bus in the dark, or to it in the first place.. But June 21st, I'd be fine.


I don't remember being called when I worked at the university, a situation I could have taken fair time off in, at least during some periods of research.

On the other hand, later in my life, with a two person business, I couldn't have taken more than a one day trial.

Anyway, I agree with you about duty and honor to serve, Chai.

You ain't started no gol-dang thread.

That pisses me off.

Must be a universal employer thing. Mercenary bastards!

I had the same response from my employer when I was called.

Oh yeah, it goes on. I've been hearing this for a good 20 years (oops, 21) since I graduated Law School. First thing a lot of yahoos ask, once they know I'm a lawyer is: how do I get out of jury duty? Or they admiringly say, I bet you never get jury duty.

Actually, I do. I'm generally not called to actually sit on a case but I go to the courthouse and hang around and answer whatever I'm asked. Last time, I got into the larger pool but then by the time they were ready to really whittle it down, they already had enough people by the time they got to me. No one even asked me about da law.

The courthouse I went to is a nice one, it's downtown and there's a lovely courtyard in the back. I had lunch there last time; I'd probably do the same if I was called at any other warm time of the year. Plus the staff, every time I've gone, have always been nice and infinitely patient, even when explaining to the woman with a screaming toddler why she could not just bring her kid with her to jury duty.

You get called, you serve (of course to let off the people in tiny 5- or 2-person companies, that's understandable. But for the others ...). Most people are there one day. Even those who are there for more than one day are rarely there for over a week. Amazing, the things people will complain about, eh?

Well dang.

I took the dillo downtown and the whole bunch of us sat in this room..

the judge came out and said there was an emergency with one of the cases on the dockett, and the other 2 plead guilty today.

I was there about 1/2 hr, had to take the dillo back to my car.

For this I put on mascara?

oh....the case we Would have gotten had something to do with a guy attacking someone with a machete, so, understandably I'm disappointed.

Dillo?

It's a fleet of trolly cars that get people around downtown for free. See the little armadillo right below the drivers window?




You know, I was thinking more about this jury duty business.

I rang my boss to tell her I wasn't chosen, and her response, as expected, was "Wow, that's great"....so I said "Actually, I'm a little disappointed"


Huh? Why?!

"Well, because it's an honor to be selected to serve your community like this. It's not a bother."

All of a sudden, I had a flashback in my mind of a conversation we had months before, and how she was going on about what an "honor" it is to serve people...blah, blah, blah....I know right where that was coming from, she had spent the week at some seminar.

Ok, you have to understand where I'm coming from with her.

She is a died in the wool Southern Baptist, which basically means she believes the most f*cked up things. Stuff that makes no sense.

I believe she has the personality to go along with anyone who is charismatic and tell a good story....I've actually heard her (on more than one occassion) use the phrase "drink the kool aide", like that was a good thing....going with the herd....buying into....all the things I abhor.

If she went to some damn workshop where serving on a jury was touted as this great service, she'd instantly change her mind, because God knows, someone standing on a stage has to be right.

It's not, like was said before, the money, it's this feeling that one shouldn't be expected to put themselves out if it means any inconvenience.

Switching here....when the judge came in and said we were excused, of course he used this opportunity to make a little speech, which was really fine, talking about the cases, what would have been expected, etc.

Some people in the room started small conversations while he was talking, but, I know there's always people who were raised in a barn. Then, the woman sitting next to me started her own running commentary on things he was saying....going "huh!, or a little laugh, or making some dumb comment. Finally, I turned toward her and said, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but I can't hear what the judge is saying"

She took my point.

When a judge is sitting up there talking, you shut your piehole and listen.

Chai--

I feel the way you do about jury duty.

I'm not sure we share opinions on Southern Baptists.



My Southern Baptists are all alive in polyester.

heh....just an aside....

on Friday, someone from the courts called asking for my boss.

she said she was calling to remind her of her jury duty the following friday.

I said to her "wow, that's weird, I just had jury duty earlier in the week, and no one thought they had to call and remind ME."

she said. "That depends on the judge, some of them want reminder calls sent out."

she had her cell #, so that was the end of the conversation.

Later, the boss calls and at some point said "I can't believe it! they actually called me from the courts to remind me of the jury duty I don't even want to go on!"

"yeah, I know"

"so now they call me, and want me to come in, and I'll probably get ANOTHER email to remind me of this AGAIN, and I don't even want to THINK about it"

"so, did you complain and tell her this?"

"Why no. Why would I complain to her?"

"well, because she/they are the one's you have the complaint about. shouldn't you be telling them? They're the ones who can do something about it, not me"

"oh....yeah..."