What’s that old saw about fearing to be tried by 12 people not smart enough to get out of jury duty? < /sarc >
I served four times over a twenty year span; they’ve left me alone since.
It is laudable and even if he isn’t selected, it’ll cost him a day. I doubt seriously if any lawyer will select another lawyer for any jury, though.
I applaud Ted Cruz, but could it be that the average citizen’s reluctance to show up for jurty duty has anything to do with the fact that most jury duty is spent staring around a room full of other unfortunate souls hoping to get into a court room just to break the monotony. Only to find that the legal system is such that there’ll likely be a last minute plea agreement, or some other legal, procedural or bureaucratic maneuver that renders the citizens who dragged their sorry butts down to the courthouse irrelevant for that day?
I definitely see the big picture of the importance of jury duty, but the reality of how it’s implemented in most cities I’ve lived is that it’s a personal time waster and the reimbursement is an insulting pittance. Other than the waiting room decor and possibly the jewelry, there isn’t much practical difference between the time the jurors spend waiting for the court and the time the defendants spend waiting for the court.
The one redeeming grace is observing how a bunch of people who are supposedly experts in their field, assisted with a highly paid group of specialized bureaucrats can manage to assemble such a dysfunctional fustercluck. It’s one reason why I seldom take an expert’s word on anything.
I’m no legal expert, but if after two hundred years this is the best legal system we can come up with, we’re seriously screwed long term.