How I skipped jury duty

[Kuan]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0430091jury1.html

[pawoSD]

Steven Colbert covered that a week ago or so....pretty awesome. Go Erik Slye!!

[Chas H]

I just told them I was deaf. Never heard another word.

[Skippy]

I've been called for jury duty three times. The first time I was on deployment in Guam. The second time, I was on deployment in Iraq. The third time a state I hadn't lived in for four years tried to call me.

[MTI]

Very lucky to have avoided more than having to apologize to the court. If he was picked up on a bench warrant, the would have been arrested and have to post bail/bond set by the court.

[Pete Geither]

Almost impossible to avoid jury duty here now. Used to be that if you owned a business, you were exempt,,, not any more. They WILL come and get you if you ignore them.

[strelnik]

Originally Posted by Pete Geither

Almost impossible to avoid jury duty here now. Used to be that if you owned a business, you were exempt,,, not any more. They WILL come and get you if you ignore them.

I think it would be fun after working 60 hours a week. I'd just keep saying " Hang 'em high!"

[Jim B.]

Originally Posted by MTI

Very lucky to have avoided more than having to apologize to the court. If he was picked up on a bench warrant, the would have been arrested and have to post bail/bond set by the court.

Absolutely correct!! A lawyer like MTI familiar with juries would have correctly caught that.


A statement like that would ENRAGE a Judge if he ever saw it. They LOVE to make an example out of people that pull carp like that.

With the the BENEFITS of American citizenship, come some BURDENS.


Jury Duty is one of these.


Don't like it?


Then go live in some other country that doesn't have it.

[cmbdiesel]

Originally Posted by Jim B.

Absolutely correct!! A lawyer like MTI familiar with juries would have correctly caught that.


A statement like that would ENRAGE a Judge if he ever saw it. They LOVE to make an example out of people that pull carp like that.

With the the BENEFITS of American citizenship, come some BURDENS.


Jury Duty is one of these.


Don't like it?


Then go live in some other country that doesn't have it.

I agree. Jury duty is one of our responsibilities as citizens. Wonder how many people who go to extremes to avoid jury duty are the very same who piss and moan that our justice system isn't working. Be involved or shut it.

[kerry]

Sentence: Incarceration with the dog until the exact number of wrinkles on the balls is determined and verified.

[Matt L]

Originally Posted by cmbdiesel

I agree. Jury duty is one of our responsibilities as citizens. Wonder how many people who go to extremes to avoid jury duty are the very same who piss and moan that our justice system isn't working. Be involved or shut it.

I could have lied to the court and told them that I would accept the word of a Chiropractor that someone was injured. I probably would have gotten on the case.

[Mike D]

Originally Posted by Chas H

I just told them I was deaf. Never heard another word.

Hmmmm, I don't even know what to say about that statement. Truth? Intentional bad pun or what? Stating the obvious? I dunno.

[link]

Originally Posted by kerry

... Incarceration with the dog until the exact number of wrinkles on the balls is determined and verified.

Is that not an allegorical account of jury duty?

The original author is not to be blamed, even if his is an angry response. If the courts really wanted people to be willing to sit on jury duty they should pay reasonable wages. Jury duty is the height of crude exploitation. Nearly everyone involved in the courts except the person on trial and the typically moronic losers that can’t get out of jury duty are paid a reasonable wage to be in Court. Not only that, but people who are obligated to be on jury duty get punished by not being able to earn their regular wage. This makes the jurors reasonably feel disrespected and used. And they are. Jurors probably just want to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. In the court system, even the perp has a chance of getting something of value from the experience, but the jurors are guaranteed only to get *****ed every single time.

If the courts want a true jury of peers, they should pay $40 per hour or more. That way people wouldn’t be offended and financially injured for having to be on jury duty. In this pay range, people up to middle management would be fairly compensated for their time. People who make an above average income, would only lose about half to 75% or so of their income. And the average house dad and pee-on schlep that makes maybe $12 per hour would be entreated to a true “honor” by serving in this capacity. But no. Even after 200 plus years of court systems in this country, their motor force is still to ***** people by forcing them to endure something amounting to slave wages and obligate them to sit through a seemingly endless and largely hollow display of tedium.

The court’s typical defense is trot out the tired and utter BS pretense that “it’s an honor to serve.” I suppose some facile brained may think something along the lines of: “Gosh, for some time in my miserable and pathetic loser existence, my opinion maters and I get to control someone.” But only the benighted would think this way. People want income. Period. Would the Judge be there if he didn’t pull down nearly $150K No. Would the clerks be there for maybe $1 per hour and a bus pass? Not a chance. Would lawyers even bother to show up? Only if they wanted training. Would the janitors show up? They’d rather clean their own toilet.

How many juries have screwed the people on trial because they’re pissed at having to be there and want to punish someone for it? I bet most. I bet angering the jury by dragging the process out is part of the calculus of even having a jury. Crap compensation amounts to an awl driven lobotomy to the concept of fairness.

It’s amazing in this country, which knows the importance of wages more than most others, that we still don’t get it when it comes to jury duty. The expression is: “No system is greater than the weakest segment.” In our courts, that would be the jurors who get *****ed every single time. Why we make jury duty an exercise in arrogance and abuse rather than a reasonably compensated, part-time job it is, is completely incomprehensible. It is among the most idiotic, cheap things this country does. It is and always has been a shameful abuse of power.

Don’t get me wrong, a jury of peers is a good thing, but in our system jurors are not typically peers because they are nearly incarcerated slaves obligated to *****ed as part of the process.

I feel better now. Thanks for the post!

[cmbdiesel]

Originally Posted by link

Is that not an allegorical account of jury duty?

The original author is not to be blamed, even if his is an angry response. If the courts really wanted people to be willing to sit on jury duty they should pay reasonable wages. Jury duty is the height of crude exploitation. Nearly everyone involved in the courts except the person on trial and the typically moronic losers that can’t get out of jury duty are paid a reasonable wage to be in Court. Not only that, but people who are obligated to be on jury duty get punished by not being able to earn their regular wage. This makes the jurors reasonably feel disrespected and used. And they are. Jurors probably just want to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. In the court system, even the perp has a chance of getting something of value from the experience, but the jurors are guaranteed only to get *****ed every single time.

If the courts want a true jury of peers, they should pay $40 per hour or more. That way people wouldn’t be offended and financially injured for having to be on jury duty. In this pay range, people up to middle management would be fairly compensated for their time. People who make an above average income, would only lose about half to 75% or so of their income. And the average house dad and pee-on schlep that makes maybe $12 per hour would be entreated to a true “honor” by serving in this capacity. But no. Even after 200 plus years of court systems in this country, their motor force is still to ***** people by forcing them to endure something amounting to slave wages and obligate them to sit through a seemingly endless and largely hollow display of tedium.

The court’s typical defense is trot out the tired and utter BS pretense that “it’s an honor to serve.” I suppose some facile brained may think something along the lines of: “Gosh, for some time in my miserable and pathetic loser existence, my opinion maters and I get to control someone.” But only the benighted would think this way. People want income. Period. Would the Judge be there if he didn’t pull down nearly $150K No. Would the clerks be there for maybe $1 per hour and a bus pass? Not a chance. Would lawyers even bother to show up? Only if they wanted training. Would the janitors show up? They’d rather clean their own toilet.

How many juries have screwed the people on trial because they’re pissed at having to be there and want to punish someone for it? I bet most. I bet angering the jury by dragging the process out is part of the calculus of even having a jury. Crap compensation amounts to an awl driven lobotomy to the concept of fairness.

It’s amazing in this country, which knows the importance of wages more than most others, that we still don’t get it when it comes to jury duty. The expression is: “No system is greater than the weakest segment.” In our courts, that would be the jurors who get *****ed every single time. Why we make jury duty an exercise in arrogance and abuse rather than a reasonably compensated, part-time job it is, is completely incomprehensible. It is among the most idiotic, cheap things this country does. It is and always has been a shameful abuse of power.

Don’t get me wrong, a jury of peers is a good thing, but in our system jurors are not typically peers because they are nearly incarcerated slaves obligated to *****ed as part of the process.

I feel better now. Thanks for the post!

Sounds like you need a new country..... Be sure not to let the door hit you in the a$$ on your way out....

The two times I have sat on a jury, I did so because I felt I was fulfilling my obligation to the system. Does that make me a 'moronic loser'? I did not b1tch about it, even though I was self employed. I could have easily been excused, and was even asked, but I felt that I should do my part. Seems like you are part of the entitlement crowd, who feels that the world owes you something, looking for the free lunch. Seems to me that 'moronic loser' fits someone else better than those to whom you applied it.

Your $40/hr idea, who pays for it? A fulled seated jury would cost over $500/hr, then what about a sequestered jury? $12000/day Your idea is ludicrous. Get some unemployed people on that kind of jury, and they would deliberate for weeks on end. The system is not perfect, but you should really have a better one in hand before calling it a steaming pile.

[Jim H]

Originally Posted by link

..If the courts really wanted people to be willing to sit on jury duty they should pay reasonable wages. Jury duty is the height of crude exploitation. ...If the courts want a true jury of peers, they should pay $40 per hour or more.

In my opinion your statements are just so basically wrong that I hardly know where to begin! Let me try. The "courts" do not benefit from trial by jury, it is "We The People" and more specifically YOU the individual,who benefit. Think about it. If you want well-paid mercenaries on the jury, be prepared to be the Defendant who can only afford to pay $1/hour ($12/hour for a twelve-member jury) sitting opposite the Prosecutor, backed by the local Treasury who offers $40/hour.

Even after 200 plus years of court systems in this country, ...forcing them to endure something amounting to slave wages and obligate them to sit through a seemingly endless and largely hollow display of tedium. ...utter BS pretense that “it’s an honor to serve.” ...People want income. Period.

I repeat, it is not the 'courts' that want a jury. The Court would be happier to just try you themselves. Do you want some of that???? Again, I think not.

...we still don’t get it when it comes to jury duty. ...Why we make jury duty an exercise in arrogance and abuse rather than a reasonably compensated, part-time job it is, is completely incomprehensible. ...It is and always has been a shameful abuse of power. ...Don’t get me wrong, a jury of peers is a good thing, but in our system jurors are not typically peers because they are nearly incarcerated slaves obligated to *****ed as part of the process.

Jurors, selected from the 'peers' for each trial, are the best weapon to defend against "a shameful abuse of power" by a sitting judge who is paid to impose his personal viewpoints on you!

Perhaps you should paid more attention to your Civics classes in school.