Posted on 11/29/2015 5:05:11 PM PST by Elderberry
It only encourages the theft of resources by the Legal System. Lawyers and Judges don't "serve" for (essentially) free.
We have a good system in Alameda County. Jury Duty is one day only, unless you’re selected for a jury, of course. You go online the night before, and they tell you if they need you to report the next day. If they don’t need you that day, then your jury duty is over. I get a Jury Summons every two years like clockwork, but I haven’t had to report to the Courthouse yet.
I have gone every time.
If this genius judge is going to fibne no-shows, then he better have the jury notices sent by registered mail, SIGNED FOR by the intended recipient. Otherwise, a lot of people are going to get fines for notices they didn’t even know ere sent. Picture this scenario: you move from your residence, perhaps even out of state, the county sends a jury notice to your old address which the new resident throws in the trash, and then you end up months or years later finding out you have a lien on your property or bank account or some such thing. Good luck fighting that.
I can’t add up all the times I’ve served. Municipal, County, Civil,and Justice of the Peace Courts. Out of all those times, There was only one case that I got to serve to the very end.
Back in Bush43, some Wyoming judge got fed up with the no-shows, and dispatched court officers to snag people from the local Walmart parking lot.
Dick Cheney’s brother got press-juried, which is why it made the national news.
Of course, British press-ganging American seamen was one of the causes of the War of 1812, too, iirc.
The only case I ever served on (out of the 6 or so I’ve been called to report for) was for a bail jumper. We weren’t to know the details of his case (although the prosecutor blurted it out to sway the jury) and the judge wouldn’t even tell us if time served would be credited against any punishment we sentenced (this after we’d already found him guilty).
In Texas, jury summons are sent by regular mail, simply say you never received it and the burden is on the court to prove otherwise.
I felt if I didn’t appear when I received that third summons, the next one would be delivered by a Deputy.
First of all, anyone who WANTS to serve on a jury will be refused right up front.
Lubbock County District Clerk Barbara Sucsy
If that is her maiden name I can only imagine the fun the boys had in high school.
As for jury summons, with today’s postal service saying you never received it should be a valid excuse for not showing up.
Finally, I’m leaning toward professional juries. On jury duty you get about $6 a day and in the big cities it’ll be a pain just finding a free parking space. If you have to pay, you lose money. And employers do NOT have to pay you when you take time off to serve on a jury.
I’ve been called only once, twenty years ago, when I was a mother to small children and couldn’t serve. since then, never. maybe because I registered Republican. I’m exempt as a volunteer EMT, but I’d still like to serve.
I have been summoned 6 times, 3 federal and 3 state. 4 murder cases and 2 armed robberies. All 6 times I have been sent packing almost certainly by the defense attorney because I am an old white guy who contributes to conservative causes. The irony is that I would hold the prosecution to the legal standards involved in the case more assiduously than any liberal because I believe in rights.
But the big problem with jurors is simply that they can not afford to miss work for a month or two at a time while getting a 40 buck per day stipend. You can not expect people living paycheck to paycheck to miss 6 to 8 of them.
Back in the 90’s in Harris county (Houston) I was receiving a jury summons every year, when the lawyers were interviewing me in court, I told them this and told them I would refuse to give a verdict or listen to evidence.
The judge said I was incorrigible and sent me home and the jury summons stopped.
The last Jury Panel I was on was a Civil Case. In Voir Dire, I stated that I did not believe in Punitive Damages and if I was selected I would do my best to reduce any punitive damages to zero.
I was not selected. The Judge said he wanted to talk to me, but it was lunch time, so I was let go.
Just start to explain the concept of jury nullification and see how long you are allowed to remain.
My county has one of the most insane jury duty systems in the world.
I have been called for jury duty every eighteen months for the past twelve years.
We serve for SIX MONTHS at a time. But the pool is divided so that each potential juror is ‘only’ on call on alternating weeks. Each group every other week averages one trial per week, but sometimes two. Once I had three trials in one week. It is a ninety mile round trip for most jurors to get to the courthouse. For some it is 120 miles or more.
I’ve wasted several hundred hours of time, a few hundred gallons of gasoline, and about seventeen tons of irritation doing my civic duty.
And the worst thing about it is that only two of the cases on which I have served should have ever come to trial. Every other one was a waste of the Judge’s and the Jury’s time.
Don’t know who came up with such an insane system; I’d rather just have to spend two weeks at the courthouse in one block than to have my whole life put intermittently on hold for so long. You can’t plan a long trip, and it must irritate the heck out of employers who can’t count on employees being allowed to do their jobs.
I’m not answering my next summons. If that makes me a bad citizen, then so be it.
They send the sheriff if you don’t show up here.
I’m serving 6 months now and so is my youngest son, his employer is very conservative so he doesn’t lose any pay and I work in our business and do volunteer work so it is not a problem for me.
They never choose me on a jury I think because my life probably looks conservative by my answers on the form.
My husband was permanently excused because he was a sole-proprietor and couldn’t take the time off because there was no one to replace him.
I don’t consider jury duty the honor that these Judges make it out to be.
Also as a veteran I feel I have done my duty and then some to this country and my state.Veterans have been Royally screwed by this country so I don’t want to hear that its my civic duty to serve on a jury.
If I’m forced to serve I would do it in protest.
Am I on some kind of national “do not summon” list?
Is it my status as a veteran, or my political affiliation?
My daughter was summoned just a few months after getting a drivers license.
My co-workers have all been summoned at least once, most were summoned twice or more in the past ten years.
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