15 Comments

1. BigFire:

I never understood the adversion to jury duty. As an immigrant, I take paying tax, voting and jury duty as serious as possible. Afterall other than paying tax, the other two items are not privileges that everyone on earth have.

Jan 27, 2005 - 3:25 pm 2. Duke:

Jury Duty was one of the most educational things I’ve ever done. I recommend it highly.

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:01 pm 3. Knucklehead:

Jury duty is, potentially, and major pain in the arse – ask anyone who has been wedged on a case that lasted weeks or months.

It is, however, a duty and while I can’t suggest with a straight face or light heart that people should embrace it, we should suffer the inconvenience and accept the duty. Serving on a jury is an educational experience.

Another thing all y’all should do from time to time (like every five or ten years) is spend an hour or two just sitting in a municipal or state court in the gallery. Just sit and watch and listen. There is much about your community you do not know and should make and effort to learn.

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:03 pm 4. Terrye:

Maybe you will get a high profile like Michael Jackson’s.

I got called up for jury duty but was dismissed before the trial even started.

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:27 pm 5. richard mcenroe:

The way they treat jurors in LA has gotten much better in the last couple of years.

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:45 pm 6. Solomon:

I’ve been called a couple times. Kind of disappointed as I just had to sit around for a couple of hours and then go home as my pool was never called. The closest I got to inside was playing “The Angry Man” (the equivalent of Lee J. Cobb’s Juror #3) in my High School production of “The Jury Room” – a more High-School friendly version of 12 Angry Men since half the characters are female. Threw a fake knife at someone and everything.

I was brilliant…BRILLIANT!

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:48 pm 7. Ed Poinsett:

A good part of my adult life I was a volunteer fireman and therefore exempt from jury duty. When I was first called, I was rejected in voir dir. The second time, I made the jury, but the DA had screwed the pooch so badly, that mid morning of the first day, the judge called a conference in his chambers. About a half hour later the charges had been dismissed and we were all on our way to the cashier’s office for our checks!

We casually polled the members based on the DA’s case, we would have unanimously voted to acquit.

It is an education and one in which I hope to participate in, on a more regular basis.

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:48 pm 8. David:

I have served on several juries. Two were very emotional for me. One was a DUI where half the jury didn’t think that 7 shooters and a six pack was enough to make a little guy drunk. An older women and I hung the jury for hours until the guy plead the case out.

The other was a civil lawsuit in federal court involving an idiot drunk and a stupid cop. Saddest thing I ever saw. I do not mind serving in state court, but the two year commitment for federal court in a constant pain. Still I will serve if called, it’s important.

Jan 27, 2005 - 4:50 pm 9. Pat Curley:

Many are called, few are chosen. I blogged my jury duty experience last year. One shining moment in my civic career.

I work for myself, have for years, so if I have to serve for a week or two, I’d have nothing financially to show for it, other than that little check for 32 cents a mile. If I were on salary it might be different, so I definitely go into voir dire looking for a (reasonably legit) way to disqualify myself if the judge says it’s going to last more than a couple days. I got out of a drug trial once by saying that I would never vote to convict anybody on a drug offense.

BTW, I always show up when I get the jury summons. My mom convinced us that even if everybody else gets away with something, we won’t.

Jan 27, 2005 - 5:45 pm 10. BeckyJ:

Made it on as an alternate once (in Pomona, CA); it is an education. As Knucklehead said, you learn a lot about your community. Other times I was rejected. Defense attorneys don’t seem to like us political science types. Here in Philly you check the Internet to see if your group is called. If not, after one day on call, you’re done. Easy. Not to mention the 10% discounts you get at the Reading Terminal Market lunch spots!

Jan 27, 2005 - 7:08 pm 11. Brown Line:

Seven years ago, I served on a jury in Cook County, Ill. It was a two-week trial in a complex medical-malpractice case. It was a most interesting experience, and it greatly raised my opinion of our legal system.

What most impressed me were my fellow jurors. We were a pretty accurate cross-section of the people in our county, in race, education, and social status – we had everyone from a young Hispanic housewife to a biochemist who did research for Abbott Laboratories – and the fact that everyone did his or her very best to render justice in what was a complex and heart-rending case. I was proud to be one of their number.

What also impressed me was the simple fact that two parties to this difficult and irreconcilable conflict should be willing to submit themselves to a verdict of their fellow citizens – to people literally pulled in off the street – in the confidence that we could arrive at a verdict approximating justice. At first, I thought it odd that the court should rise when the jury entered; after all, we’re just people. But then it dawned on me that that was to remind us of the importance of the task that had been entrusted to us. A system that places such trust in its citizen – that, in fact, gives us an opportunity to elevate ourselves in this way – is worth preserving; indeed, is worth fighting for.

However, Roger may appreciate the fact that one my hardest tasks as a juror was convincing myself that what was going on before me was real life: it wasn’t a movie or a play being staged for my entertainment, but a chunk of reality in which I was involved. A courtroom is a lot like a theater (or a church, for that matter), so the feeling of being a viewer rather than a participant was hard to shake; though I did, of course.

Jan 28, 2005 - 7:36 am 12. Knucklehead:

Yo, Brown Line,

I have my most recent Jury summons sitting here next to me. I haven’t sent back the stupid little paper yet because I’m pissed off that this the the third time I’ve been called for one type or jury duty or another in the past 5 years or so.

Having read your comments, however, I decided to quit bellyachin’ and send the thing in. I don’t recall any of it being that moving, but there’s always hope. Maybe they won’t kick me off this time (it’ll help if I remember not to wink at cute babes in the gallery or yell, “You did WHAT!” at the defendent).

Jan 28, 2005 - 10:20 am 13. exguru:

It’s too bad you won’t be given “a chance to do your part,” because no one with any education ever survives the challenges these days.

Jan 28, 2005 - 1:22 pm 14. Lefty:

I am a Deputy DA who is assigned to a Hardcore Gang unit.

As a general rule, the reason that educated jurors get excused is because defense attorneys are trained to exclude them. Statistically, these jurors are more likely to focus on the evidence and not be distracted by clever and not so clever defense tactics/arguments. In the vast majority of criminal prosecutions the evidence will favor the prosecution.

Fortunately, each side only gets 10 premptory challenges per case (20 in life cases). Thus, if larger numbers of educated jurors appear for jury service and do not seek to be excused, the more likely it is that the defense will exhaust their challenges before all of the educated jurors have been removed from the panel.

I encourage everyone to fullfill their jury service. In my career I have spoken to hundreds of jurors, almost all whom have expressed that on balance it had been a very worthwhile experience.

Jan 28, 2005 - 3:42 pm 15. Knucklehead:

Exguru,

It should be obvious that I don’t suffer from that affliction.

Jan 29, 2005 - 9:20 am

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