I had an interesting jury duty experience when I was younger. (I will preface this anecdote by stressing that I used to be all in on the civic duty aspect of jury duty.)
When I got out of the Navy, I got called that fall for Jury Duty. I went and did my duty. Then, three years later, I got called again. And then I got called again. And again.
Turns out in my state, every three years you become eligible for jury duty. And was starting to get pretty irritated by it. Especially since NOBODY I knew, and I had a large circle of friends, had been called even once.
I got called in 1979, 1982, 1985, and 1988.
When I got called in 1988, I was fit to be tied. But I went. It was the only time I got picked to be on a jury, and it was for an older woman arrested for drunk driving.
Then, there was a hiatus.
That lasted until 1998, when I got called for Federal Jury Duty, but...I didn’t get picked. They notified me that I didn’t have to report on the day I was supposed to go in. (People told me all kinds of horror stories about Federal Jury Duty)
Then, in 2002, I was called for Jury Duty again.
Boy, was I steaming mad. I went in and decided I was going to act out in some way. There were at least a hundred people reporting on that day, and we were broken up into smaller groups that were each individually managed by some minor court official as we filled out our paperwork. When we had to fill out our forms, I filled it out in a completely illegible manner, I was boiling mad. The Bailiff called out my name and made me fill it out again.
Then, we all filed into the huge courtroom. I think it was one of those open courtrooms that has a bunch of different areas where legal processes can go on at the same time, and they explained to us that there was going to be an important case and they needed to explain it to us.
It was about two brothers who got pulled over by the State Police and had unlicensed weapons in their car. Then they asked anyone who had a problem sitting in a jury trial for this case to raise their hand.
I raised my hand immediately. They called me up to the bench in front of all these other jurors who watched this odd process curiously, the judge was sitting there in his black robe, and the District Attorney and the Defense Lawyer were there. The judge asked what my issue was. I completely lied, because I was so pissed, and said I didn’t trust the police. I would assume the State Police planted the weapons. (I didn’t really feel this way, but I was so angry I felt as if I could say nearly anything)
While I said this, I could see the Defense Attorney stroking his chin as he eyed me, and I imagined that if he had a thought bubble above his head, it would have said “How can I get this guy on the jury?”
The judge said “Well, if you can’t be impartial, we can dismiss you for today, but you will have to come back again.”
When he said that I did an immediate 180 and said “Fine. I can be impartial.” So I didn’t get picked that day.
Then, in 2002, I got ANOTHER jury duty notification, and I nearly had a stroke. I didn’t get picked, but as soon as I got home, I typed up a letter to the State Commissioner of Juries. I didn’t use profanity, but I was nearly apoplectic with rage at this decades long stupidity and imposition on me.
I was never called again after that.
I would willingly go and serve now, as I am at the end of my career, and I am not “in demand” in my work the way I used to be (I am the old guy, and everyone is cutting me some slack to extend my career another year or so!) but...I think my Jury Duty days are over. I doubt I will get called again, and rightly so. I thought I served enough.
In my county, everyone in my family gets called about every two years. They are large panels and we only get chosen for the jury about one out of four times.
In my area, people are paid $10 a day when on a jury.
Few employers help with it as they can's afford to, so people can be financially ruined if on a long case.
I worked for a large company that made up the difference.
I commuted 227 miles a day to work, the courthouse is a block from my house, so I actually wanted to be called.
I only was once.
You couldn't pay for the entertainment that case offered.
The prosecutor and cops did a miserable job.I felt there was reasonable doubt and was going to vote to acquit.
Then the idiot defendant was given a chance to talk,and there was NO doubt.
He admitted to his crimes, plus several others the cops and prosecutor didn't know about. The evidence on his kidnapping a guy was poor. He started off with, "I didn't mean to kidnap that guy, but I had to."
And then he went on to describe how they had stolen propane bottle from convenience stores and more.
The other jurors were as astonished as I was.
We went to deliberate.
The captain asked if we all knew how we were going to vote. We did.
Then she called for the vote, but another juror said we should take at least a few minutes to make it look like we had "deliberated".
So we did, chatting about other things.
Then we convicted him.
I know the feeling of getting called multiple times. I was called several times and no one else I know were called even once. I think it was the federal grand jury got me out for several years.
Grand jury was interesting since you only heard the prosecution, so they don’t beat a case to death. It was also in New York so Kennedy airport and smugglers.
Thanks for sharing.
damn, yeah, that’s abuse...
I got called for Federal Jury Duty, but...I didn’t go
it was 100mi away and i was sick
100% (People told me all kinds of horror stories about Federal Jury Duty)