Jury Duty...

Over the holidays I got a summons for tomorrow. If I'm called, I need to head to a courthouse 45 minutes away from my house by car to report at 7:30AM. Fun stuff. Even though I've known about this for a month, I don't get to find out if I have to go in tomorrow before 5PM today, which is really annoying. Concentrating on work is problematic when you've got a possible looming deadline over your head. Even though my job normally lacks traditional structure, the ambiguity of this is getting on my nerves.

Anyone else here been called before?

Back in 2006, I was called to be summon for Jury Duty, I don't know if it's still the same rules but, if you get a mail saying you need to, you should already take the note to your job and by Law, your job will have no choice but to give you a day off which I'm sure you are aware of. Next, before the due date, you gotta call the number and listen to the following instructions if you are indeed needed to go in or not. I remember I got paid $30 for my services.

Edit: When I was summon, I voted guilty so I can be done with the case. Didn't even care if that person was really innocent, I voted he's guilty.

Yea, was called about 2 months back.

Managed to get off, told them the dog was getting treated for cancer (which wasn't a lie).

The person I was speaking to though required evidence, I took photos with camera, not good enough. So I bought a scanner as instructed, scanned all the meds and docs, and then.... the dumb ass didn't know how to open the attachment and told me to send them physical evidence through the mail.

After sending a ranty angry email back, immediately got replied with "you are excused from jury duty".

Got off, but ended up dropping 50 quid on a scanner didn't need thanks to some clown.

Never for jury duty. Years ago when I was a student, I was called in as witness. That was a complete waste. Told to show by 9am I think. After waiting some time, I am told the earliest I will witness is 13:30. That never happened. A day wasted away really. If I was needed the next day, they would call me like an hour before I had to come. Not to bad, wish it was like that from the beginning.

You can't be serious....

Phew. They called juror's 5100 something to 5355. My number? 5358. :)

@SOedipus: I added sarcastic on my part. Truth be told, it's very hard to take and listen to the one's who committed crimes and almost feel sorry for the person is really harsh. I just wanted to get it over with. This is why I could never see myself as a Lawyer.

@Byshop: yeah last year I got called and was on a trail for 6 weeks, got a murder trail.

Annoying thing was my company didn't pay me, so I had to claim back my loss earnings after my service was over, basically I went 8 weeks without pay.

This is whats wrong with the Jury duty system, there are plenty people like this.

If I'm ever in court for a crime I'd hope id be able to request trail by Judge alone, as due to the nature of the general public you could have a jury of disinterested people who are too inconvenienced by disruption to their routine to care about someone elses life being in her hands, or people too dumb to make a rational decision.

This is more apparent for serious trails, in my murder Trail I ended up voting "not guilty" but 10 of the 12 voted guilty. It was a complex case and the evidence wasnt straight forward but I thought my fellow jurors were voting more on emotion than facts.

That really sucks. Everyone at my company is salaried and I'm pretty sure they cover Jury Duty although I'm not sure how that would work out if I were gone for 8 weeks. Anything over 1 month counts as a Leave of Absence and is handled differently so I doubt I'd pull full salary.

What if someone gets pulled for something like that and can't afford to go without pay?

My father called me and said I had received a summons. I was in the military and stationed 1600 miles away, so obviously I wasn't going to go. Then a warrant was placed against me, so I had to call the courthouse and explain.

So annoying..

@davillain-:That is pretty awful lol.

@thehig1: I think you have the right idea about things. It's unfortunate, but I am not so sure most of our peers can be trusted to look at things fairly and impartially. At least you took things seriously.

Not yet, fortunately.

@Byshop: if you can prive seroius hardship the court will either excuse you or bend the rules in compensation to help

United States, UK, South Africa, etc.., where is it happening?

Out here the process is pretty streamlined where you log in online to the courthouse and answer a questionaire a few weeks prior to the day you report for duty. Recently my wife was easily dismissed by answering the questions honestly and the ones I believe make or break a candidate ask if you know people in law enforcement, people who were in the court system (civil or criminal), questions about suing, etc..,

The summons mentioned medical exemptions specifically but were very clear they had to be submitted in advance and always requires a note from a physician. I can only imagine what they'd demand as proof for financial hardship.

Valid question but I could ask you the same since you also didn't mention where you are.

I'm in the US and I didn't even know if compulsory jury duty service was a thing in other countries. The process in the county in Colorado I live in seems pretty analog by comparison. Paper form that needs to be filled out, recorded message at a phone number you call the night before, etc.

@Byshop: we should have said what country were from, as the jury procedures will be different

Im from UK so what I said about proving financial hardship may be different in USA.

Let me first say I take issue when a free man is ordered to do something and that's essentially what our summons will say. "Greetings: You are hearby SUMMONED to appear in the ..........." is how the card starts off and any time something starts with the word "greetings" you know you are in for a mess. Here in my state (where Meade kicked Lee's ass) it seems quite easy to be excused or disqualified from jury "duty." Showing a lack of impartiality is simple even for an honest person. You can either fill out the questionnaire online or call an automated phone system and if you showed how you can not be impartial, the next business day you will get an email thanking you but excusing you. The courts do not seem to understand how some people need to work and earn money and in some places vacation/sick/personal time may not be available and that $9.00 a day (what is paid out here) isn't worth it.Think about if the process lollygags and turns into days or even being sequestered. Many people can not afford to deal with it for either monetary or other reasons.

I've been summoned four times since I turned 18 (40 now). The first time, I had to appear and was selected for a case, but the parties settled at the last minute, so I was excused. The second time, I checked the website to see if my number got called and it didn't. The third time, I had to appear, but I was excused at noon. The fourth time, I checked the website, and my number was not called. I wonder how many more times I can dodge the bullet.

i got called for district court jury duty. actually got selected to serve as a juror. it was interesting to be part of process but also extremely boring at times.

an mta ( transportation system in the nyc and surrounding area) employee was electrocuted while on the job. he was driving a truck or something and struck a power line. how he didn't die on the spot i don't know but he survived with nerve damage and significant pain that caused him to be unable to work his former job.

he was unable to come to a settlement w/ the mta ( who did accept blame ) so the case went to a jury.

basically we had to decide how much was owed to him in compensation.



my wife just served last year as an alternate on a manslaughter case of a woman who stabbed her abusive husband while they were fighting in a car where his heart was punctured and he bled to death.