Jury Duty

[cj001f]

200 people, taking a day off work to sit with their thumb up their asses to be told to go home at 3:30. Any more proof of the judicial systems contempt for everyone else necessary?

[P_McPoser]

Just be creative. I always manage to weasle out of even showing up.

[TNKen]

We had a local criminal court judge that was a little whacked. When he couldn't get enough jurors for a big murder trial, he sent the deputies to a major intersection and had them set up a road block to get jurors. Bizzare. He was dethroned in the next election.

Ken

[flatlander420]

I did it, couldn't get out of it once they picked me. The crazy woman that was suing Home Depot for 18 million probably regrets that her lawyers insisted I be on the panel. I had to be at court at 8:30 a.m. in the morning,(Malibu by the way) get out at 4 p.m., drive home, take a shower and a shit then go to work 'till midnite(I work swing shift). After six weeks of that I was so jaded with the total B.S. the plantiffs lawyers and witnesses spued at us ,I made sure I was head juror in deliberations.So in the end when I read the verdict, the bitch got nothing, not one f'ing penny. I was happy to have been part of the justice system and see justice prevail.

[hutash]

At least you got out at 3:30. I always get stuck until at least 4:30 or 5. I have never even had my number called, so I sit there all day listening to tunes and reading. I hate the Ventura Gov. center. They just better hope they never call me, I will do my best to continue in the trend of Flatlander.

[cj001f]

They just better hope they never call me, I will do my best to continue in the trend of Flatlander.

After seeing the prosecutors wheels I'd be hoping for an execute all of the participants option.

[Tippster]

Hopefully none of you haters will ever need to pin your future on people like yourselves.

Shit folks, it beats digging ditches.

[cj001f]

Shit folks, it beats digging ditches.

I'd get paid to dig a ditch.

I don't get paid for jury duty - by the state or by my employer, and if you'd read above, no one in my pool of 200 was empanelled, we were at the courthouse so lawyers could engage in bullshit brinksmanship. They don't have to pay for our time; they sure as shit don't value it - hence my comments about the systems contempt for the citizens.

[edg]

I'll give you each a cookie for your jury duty. They will each say "GUILY! HANG THE FUCKER!"

edg

[Jack]

I have been through the jury duty scene twice . Both times I wasn't working and figured why not?
Sitting for hours on end and every time you come up for selection you get excused because you got long hair or don't fit someones profile is pretty messed up.
They should not be allowed to excuse for anything but admitted bias or bias they can uncover. It is a waste of everyones time and getting paid 20 bucks is pretty much an insult .
Now when I get those invitations I just throw them away and if I ever get chalenged about it I will claim economic hardship.

[P_McPoser]

^^^
Either that, or have your employer grossly inflate the critical role you play in day-to-day operations. Works really well if your company is one of the key tax payers to the county.

[mr_gyptian]

Hopefully none of you haters will ever need to pin your future on people like yourselves.

Shit folks, it beats digging ditches.

No it does not. It is a colossal waste of human resource.

[hutash]

In California, or at least in Ventura county, it is almost impossible to get excussed from the waste of time CJ is talking about. You can get excussed if you are called for a trial, but you still have to show up and waste the day. They know full well they are not going to pick most people, but they want to be able to say they they picked a jury from 300 people.

I would rather be digging ditches, even if I didn't get paid, at least there is something to show for it at the end of the day, unlike jury duty.

[Trainwreck]

Bump.

I just got my summons for jury duty. I am having a hard time taking time off work to ski right now since I am broke and actually have work (for a change), so I can't take time off for this shit. Anyone have legit ideas on how to get out of even showing up?

[iceman]

Here you can plead Hardship but as far as I know you still have to show up to prove that you came. But shortly thereafter they give you the chance to plead, which they don't even argue, they just move you two years back. Takes less than an hour total. It may be on the summons so you can do it by mail, not sure about that

who is the cj100f guy who started this thread?

[mushmouth]

It is a colossal waste of human resource.

Wrong, but it might just feel that way because you sound like you think of human's time as a commodity which should be utilized for production. It is the involvement of citizen's in the judicial process which keeps it as honest as it can be.

[Hugh Conway]

Bump.

I just got my summons for jury duty. I am having a hard time taking time off work to ski right now since I am broke and actually have work (for a change), so I can't take time off for this shit. Anyone have legit ideas on how to get out of even showing up?

my slacker landlord "had to take care of a housebound relative" once it works once, it always works

Wrong, but it might just feel that way because you sound like you think of human's time as a commodity which should be utilized for production. It is the involvement of citizen's in the judicial process which keeps it as honest as it can be.

HR or sales?

[lobstahmeatwad]

who is the cj100f guy who started this thread?

I realize you are captain TGR and getting long in the tooth but you really don't know or this is interweb sarcasm?

[Art Shirk]

Bump.

I just got my summons for jury duty. I am having a hard time taking time off work to ski right now since I am broke and actually have work (for a change), so I can't take time off for this shit. Anyone have legit ideas on how to get out of even showing up?

The following is not legal advice.

You don't have to do shit. They include a million threats regarding prosecution an legal mumbo. Nothing will come of it. Nothing.

Or just go and during voire dire ask the prosecutor if the hotel you will be sequestered at has porno movies and room service. They will show you the door.

[DharmaBum]

Trail by a jury of peers is a constitutional right that is part of the basis of our free society. Perhaps you'd prefer military tribunals. Suck it up and do your duty, or move to another country.

[back bowl]

As commonlaw said, I've never heard of any repercussions for failing to appear. If you are looking to get out of sitting, I can tell you what excuses worked and didn't work from the last jury I drew:

Worked:
Post-heart-transplant medical appt.
Doctor with a full schedule
Administrative hearing officer with a full schedule
Special needs kid at home that can't be cared for by a sitter or daycare
Some kind of marginally understandable medical condition that will cause random fainting

Didn't work:
Farmer planning a planting day
Childcare problems that don't involve a special needs kid
Teacher who would have to prepare lesson plans
Business owner who doesn't have anyone who can cover his responsibilities
Lawyer with hearing scheduled (Judge just said "that's something I can take care of, consider your hearing cancelled.")
Chef at a restaurant without someone who can fill in

As much as I like juries, and I can get behind all the "do your civic duty" shit, I'd much rather have people in the pool who want to be there, or at least don't hate being there. I think people who hate jury service usually take out their frustrations on defendants, particularly when we put on a case. So I say blow it off...

[jgb@etree]

I did my part and hung the jury that I sat on ~10 years back. Couple of guys from up in Harlem had a beef and one dude claimed that the other came in & ripped a chain off his neck (the implication was that this was a collection attempt for a drug debt).

The prosecution offered zero evidence and were riding on the testimony of the 'victim'. Basically a he said/she said situation. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt? No fucking way. The jury was 100% white, and all but myself & one other were intent on a guilty. Blew my mind how a bunch of supposedly educated and somewhat intelligent folks could reach that conclusion and really believe it. But as they tried to sway the our opinion (myself & the other hold out) the racist BS started flowing pretty thick. One woman said something like, "We don't know what it's like 'up there'. It's a different world". WTF? She lived on the upper east side, just like me at the time. I said to her: "A different world? It's 20 blocks from where you live - you''ve got to be joking, right?"

Other dude eventually caved, and I was the cocksucker who forced everyone else to sit around for an extra day and a half why they tried to convince me to send this guy to jail.

There is no fucking way that I'd ever cast my vote to take away someone's freedom without some real proof. While it's possible that everything went down as presented in court, but I really doubt it. There sure wasn't any evidence, or even credible testimony.

[freak]

I realize you are captain TGR and getting long in the tooth but you really don't know or this is interweb sarcasm?

do you really need to ask?

freak~[&]

[The AD]

How often do you get called? Maybe once a decade or so? Suck it up and do your duty. It's not always a waste of time.

[iceman]

I realize you are captain TGR and getting long in the tooth but you really don't know or this is interweb sarcasm?

It's like jazz, man. If you have to ask you're never going to get it.

You may dopeslap yourself now.