WOMAN JAILED FOR JURY VIOLATION

The Lansing State Journal ^ | 11.DE.2003 | bullseye1911

[bullseye1911]

Woman jailed for jury violation Lansing teacher gets $150 fine for skipping duty

Cracking down

Jurors who fail to respond to a summons will be sent a courtesy letter giving them 10 days to contact the jury clerk to explain. If deemed ineligible, the jurors will be excused. If not, they will get a new report date.

If jurors fail to respond to the courtesy letter, an order to show cause will be served, requiring them to appear before a judge to show cause why they should not be held in contempt of court. Contempt carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine. The jurors also may be ordered to perform jury service.

If the juror fails to appear for the order to show cause hearing, a bench warrant will be issued.

Advertisement

By Kelly Hassett Lansing State Journal

A Lansing teacher who failed to show for jury duty was jailed for a night and fined $150 - the first person arrested under Ingham County's crackdown.

Tracy Fleming, 42, turned herself in Tuesday after court officials issued a bench warrant, Court Administrator Sally Holewa said.

Circuit Court Judge Thomas Brown fined Fleming Wednesday, then released her.

Fleming is the first person since 1997 arrested in Ingham County for dodging jury service, Holewa said.

"There is a problem with people not showing," she said. But "we're going to work with people as much as we can."

The warrant was issued when Fleming missed a court hearing that was scheduled after she ignored a jury notice and subsequent warning, Holewa said.

Fleming said she never saw the notice because she and her husband were vacationing during the summer when it arrived.

Brown asked Fleming, who was brought into the courtroom for her arraignment Wednesday by sheriff's deputies, if she realized the seriousness of skipping jury service. She said yes.

He ordered her to report to jury duty the week of May 3.

Ingham County started issuing bench warrants again for jury dodgers in June.

Six warrants have been issued - a penalty that easily can be avoided, jury clerk Gloria McGruder said.

"Doing nothing when you receive notice is the worst thing you can do," McGruder said.

Contact Kelly Hassett at 267-1301 or khassett@ lsj.com.

[bullseye1911]

Ah, public school teachers. Teaches government/civics, no doubt!

[Eris]

Amendment XIII

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

[general_re]

Where is Okemos, Michigan? Is it near Lansing?

[CholeraJoe]

Doesn't apply to your obligations as a citizen (i.e. Jury service and military service). There's a boatload of case law and Supreme Court rulings on this topic.

[Eris]

That's rather like saying despite the plain language of the Second Amendment, the right of the individual to keep and bear arms can be restricted, based on case law and SC rulings.

[general_re]

So you contend that your rights should be absolute?

[martin_fierro]

Where is Okemos, Michigan? Is it near Lansing?

It's a little east of East Lansing. Nice area, IIRC.

[CholeraJoe]

I don't necessarily believe them but the Supremes' decisions are the law of the land.

[Protagoras]

That's rather like saying despite the plain language of the Second Amendment, the right of the individual to keep and bear arms can be restricted, based on case law and SC rulings.

Or that you can't talk about politicion within 60 days of an election.

The frog is cooked. And so are we.

[Eris]

Depends on what you mean by "absolute."

Do I think they should be conditional? No. The proper term for a condition right is "privilege."

My right to own a gun or to speak my mind or worship as I see fit is not subject to conditions, nor are they privileges.

[general_re]

Okay, well, I think I've found the lady in question, in that case. I was mostly curious to see if she taught government or civics, but it looks like she teaches math. And social studies - so maybe she's a civics teacher of sorts, at the middle school level ;)

This next part is not so much for you, but for anyone else reading this post - I've given enough information away for others to Google this lady up, and if you do, you will find an e-mail address for her. Please DO NOT send this poor lady an email, just in case it's not the right person. And even if it is, let's all just let the courts settle it - nothing is going to be accomplished by sending off a bunch of stupid emails to her, other than making us all look like a pack of a**holes. Thank you.

[bullseye1911]

You have a point there. Wear a hat and no one will see it!

Eris-signed up 12-10-2003

Man the trolls are out today!!!

[bullseye1911]

Where is Okemos, Michigan? Is it near Lansing?

Right next door.

[general_re]

"Absolute", as in "unconstrained, unrestricted, unqualified in extent or degree, total". The usual meaning of the word "absolute" ;)

Are your rights to be absolute, then?

[End Times Sentinel]

Your duties as a citizen supercede The 13th Amendment.  In fact, both the draft and jury duty were in place before The 13th.  If The 13th was meant to abolish jury duty and the draft, it probably would have been written that way, don't you think?

 

Personally, I'm sick of being called for jury duty every June 6th (you can only be called once each 12 months here and that's exactly how frequently they call) because 88% of the respondents don't show up.  Not that I don't relish the opportunity to met out a little of my own brand of justice against some scum bag, but I never seem to make it past the initial questioning before I'm dismissed.

 

Owl_Eagle

”Guns Before Butter.”

Your duties as a citizen supercede The 13th Amendment.  In fact, both the draft and jury duty were in place before The 13th.  If The 13th was meant to abolish jury duty and the draft, it probably would have been written that way, don't you think?

Personally, I'm sick of being called for jury duty every June 6th (you can only be called once each 12 months here and that's exactly how frequently they call) because 88% of the respondents don't show up.  Not that I don't relish the opportunity to met out a little of my own brand of justice against some scum bag, but I never seem to make it past the initial questioning before I'm dismissed.

[Eris]

My rights have limits, but they are not conditional, nor are they privileges granted by government.

And those limits are not drawn by the law, but by something higher.

"... rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual."
>--Thomas Jefferson, 1819.

[Eris]

So I'm new. Big whoop.

Do you have anything relevant to say to me? If so, get to it and quit with the passive-aggressive bullsh*t.

[TheBigB]

33 years alive and I've never even once been called for Jury Duty. Personally, I'd be curious to see what it was like.

[general_re]

My rights have limits, but they are not conditional...

Aren't they? Can't your right to vote or own guns be restricted if you're, say, convicted of a felony? Aren't those rights essentially conditional on your good behavior?

[Eris]

Not that I don't relish the opportunity to met out a little of my own brand of justice against some scum bag, but I never seem to make it past the initial questioning before I'm dismissed.

Perhaps the first part of your sentence there contributes to the problem outlined in the second half. ;)