Posted on 01/23/2010 6:02:22 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
President Barack Obama was called to jury duty at a southwest suburban Chicago courthouse, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. But the White House said Saturday that the president notified the Cook County Circuit Court that "he would not be able to serve."
Chicago Sun-Times columnist Michael Sneed reported that Obama's jury duty summons was sent to his home on the South Side of Chicago asking him to report on Monday at the county courthouse in the suburb of Bridgeview. The White House said the court was told weeks ago - no surprise - that Obama could not make it.
This isn't the first time a president has been called to serve on a jury. Former President George W. Bush in 2006 got a jury summons from McLennan County, Texas, where his ranch is located, but he was let off the hook, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
The Christian Science Monitor reported in 2006 that "in fact, no modern court has had a sitting president on a jury. Ronald Reagan came the closest when he was summoned in the 1980s by Santa Barbara County, Calif. He was granted a deferment until he was out of office.'
Former President Bill Clinton was willing to serve on a case involving a gang-related shooting when he was called in 2003, but the judge dismissed him.
Mine too. Sequestered and everything. A mob associate found guilty. There was a police cruiser outside our house every night for a month (this was 1973.)
I worked as a legal secretary, and at one time if you were in the lawyer business or anything related thereto, you were unlikely to be called. Now they call anyone; however, being in the field you are less likely to actually serve. You have to spend a whole day waiting around, and if you aren’t selected for a jury, they send you home. At one time, it was worse; used to have to hang around sometimes for a week or more.
And where I live, the compensation rate is $9 per day plus 7 cents a mile for travel. I think this was the same compensation paid about a hundred years ago. LOL
My company pays full pay up to 21 days, and the county court pays $30 a day and has nice facilities with TV, pool tables and internet access. Free parking, too.
Or else a warrant for your arrest. Nobody gets excused for the “I’m important” reason.
What amazes me are the idiots in Chicago and their lousy processes that resulted in sending out a jury duty notice to a sitting President of the United States in the first place.
Serving on a jury would impose undue hardship on Obama--he might have to go two weeks without playing golf.
You mean this wouldn’t make a great photo-op????
Or was it the kobe lettuce?
Probably thinks OJ is not guilty and Mark Fuhrman is.
I can't right now. My schedule is full.
I heard tell Billy Jeff's hiring coffee servers!
Gottcha..
Oh he’ll be in a court someday....sooner or later (meniacle laughter).
I’ve got almost a couple of decades on you and have never been called, either. Lived in a variety of states when younger, but been in VA the past 25 years, same county even.
If I get a notice on Monday, it’s your fault !
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