I would think if the lady who is a severe diabetic had a note from her doctor, she would be excused??

I read in the local paper the other day a suggestion that they call people who are laid off and who would need the few dollars they dole out for jury duty, but I wonder if those same people might have a problem having money for transportation to get to the courthouse.

I would love to have jury duty.

Been called once, and never made it upstairs to the courtroom. Sat sat and sat!

I've served on jury duty twice. I enjoyed both experiences. I found out a lot about the court system, met some interesting people on jury duty, and felt proud to have "served" . I received something like $10 a day for carfare. Also, my job (with the federal government) paid me my full salary for the 2 weeks I was gone.As a side note,on my lunch hours, I walked around the town where my court was, found some interesting restaurants, parks, and thrift shops.

I did it once, almost 30 years ago.
A murder trial, woman killed her husband....two week trial.

Afterward, I told people that a real murder trial was far more dramatic than Perry Mason - this was before televised trials and the OJ case.

We had visit to the scene of the crime (defendant fainted,so we had to leave) disappearing witnesses, shouted yells for a mistrial, and twice questioned for (I found out later), charges of jury tampering.

And that's just the highlights....it was a real experience.

I would think if the lady who is a severe diabetic had a note from her doctor, she would be excused?? I agree.

I had posted a while back about being called to federal jury duty in St. Louis (an hour drive each way from my home). I do NOT drive in St. Louis city and this was in the middle of downtown. I did get a doctor excuse since I have had panic attacks in the past. Some people here thought it was my civic duty and I was wrong for trying to get excused. Not long after that I was called for jury duty in the town I live in. That got cancelled, but I have no problem serving in my town or county or even neighboring counties... please just don't make me drive downtown St. Louis! BTW there is no public transportation from my area to St. Louis... so it was drive myself or ask a friend or my DH to take off work and drive me.

Sorry you wasted your day.

I was only called once. I woke up with a horrible cold type flu that morning.....struggled in anyway. We too sat for a while, then attorneys came into the courtroom, spoke to the judge, and in turn the judge thanked us for our time, explained the defendant had opted for trial by judge, and excused us. I was one very sick but very happy person. I remember that the case was about a young man accused of breaking into this elderly couples home, terrorizing them and robbing them of their life's savings of $10,000.00 they had hid in their bedroom. He was found guilty. And I was left shaking my head at someone having that much money in their home and it wasn't even in a safe!

Shirley

if they paid my regular salary i'd have no problem doing it. they pay $5 a day. i have never in all of my life been paid less than $6 per hr even thru 4 yrs of high school and i made more than that plus commission (bridal studio). you can't expect me, the breadwinner w/ a DH in full-time college, to accept that pay and you certainly would not want me sitting on your jury lol. if for some reason i was forced to do jury duty i'd vote for conviction no matter what.... now if my dh was working and i could afford to not earn a few thousand $$$'s for a week or two i'd do it, i think it would be interesting thou i am already exceptionally prejusticed against anyone who has committed a crime. my thinking is i don't and neither shall anyone else lol.

i have previously been called once and my employer wrote a letter explaining i am the only one who can do my job and i was excused. my dh was called a couple of yrs ago, he went to his day and explained he is a fulltime student, can't miss classes etc...not acceptable excuse but they didn't need him anyway and he got to leave at lunch. they pretty much told everyone they would take no excuses what so ever, not kids, not illness, not work or school... 'forget it and shut up & sit down' lol is actually what the judge told them lol. ~ liz

I'm right there with Lydia ... I will serve on any local jury, happily and proudly. But I do *not* want to get called for federal jury duty. (dang, I'm almost afraid to put that in writing becuase it might jinx me!) I'm deathly afraid to drive in 'city traffic' and KC doesn't have public transportation from way out here to way over there.

My attitude certainly might be different, if it cost me to be there. My job pays 100% for serving, as long as I do not accept pay from the county or federal agency.

I can appreciate the frustration of having the jury trial cancelled the day of ... but honestly, wouldn't want our system to not allow that.

Wow Liz. I hope you are never on a jury of an innocent person. Believe it or not, there are innocent people being brought to trial. It could even be you or a loved one. I certainly do not like being on jury duty but I will do it if called (and I have been called.)

I know it seems like a real pain and most people have some sort of story why they can't serve and they probably have very good excuses. But they have to draw the line somewhere. I know that here they send you out a questionnaire and ask you to send in proof that you can't serve on jury duty. I have only known of those with a doctor's excuse to actually be excused.

It must be that people get paid differently when serving on jury trial. I was paid more than $5 per day when I served. I can't remember how much but I know it was more than that.

I love jury duty. Fascinating stuff to me. I was called eight years in a row and ended up foreman on the last trial which was a medical malpractice.

The last two times I've been called (after the eight year streak) I had to call in instead. Takes all the fun out of the experience.

I think you'd be up in arms, bigfoot liz, if your taxes went to pay the salaries of jurors on a sliding scale, from peon to ceo! It is the civic duty of all Americans to serve on a jury when called.

I am proud to be a citizen in a country that that has trials by a jury of one's peers, if the defendant chooses. American justice may not be perfect, but at least we try here.

I have been called several times, excused because I was about to deliver a baby once, and not seated once because my husband happened to be the reporter who had covered the case.

Sherry

This is one of the costs of a free society....seems like a small one to me.

As an attorney and an American I find Liz's attitude to be reprehensible.

i've been twice and both times sat til my back was crazy and then sent home. both times was county courthouse so more than traffic and minor stuff...boy was i glad to get out of there...the first time they had these aweful wooden chairs and it took weeks for my back to recover.

i havn't a clue what i'd do if it were that wanna-be bomber. that dude was flying over MY house when he tried to set his bomb off. i hope they turn him over to the feds and court marshall him...

I find Liz's attitude objectionable, too.

When I was employed as an hourly worker, my employer took the $10/day jury pay, and I got my full pay, and this was for a 1 week trial.

When I was self-employed, I served twice. Once was just a one-day trial, and the second was two days. That's the price for having our justice system.

I will say, my business was highly seasonal, and I was called in October once. I reported, but when heard the trial was projected to be 3 weeks, I asked to be excused. I told the judge that I made half of my year's earnings between October through December. She asked a few questions about my business, and let me go.

My son was also called while he was at university - all he had to do was send in the form, having checked the box "full time student".

These days, at least where I live, I get the summons, and then I check on the internet each evening for the one week time period to see if I actually have to go to the courthouse. The last 2 times, I haven't needed to go.

I just finished serving on a 3 month capital murder case. Yes, 3 months. And those were 8 hour days.
Fortunately I'm not working and was able to serve...years past I was self employed and unable to.
I found the entire experience to be fascinating and learned so much about our judicial system.
Parts of the trial were repetitive, parts emotional. The waiting outside of the courtroom for the lawyers and judge to decipher what we were allowed to hear was extra hard on all of us...one day we sat outside for 7 hours before going in.
Yet I was honored to be able to serve.

i live in seminole co FL, they pay $5, orange co pays $10 a day. all of my aunts & uncles are lawyers (5), i do not do anything to break laws and i would never trust a 'jury' to judge anyone these days. often people on juries are out for other things than seeing someone receive a fair trial. i have to look out for myself & family, my responsibility is to them not to someone who most likely did something wrong, something i would never dare do. why should i suffer financially for them?

my employer does not pay for jury duty and infact you can not use what little paid vacation we do get. we do not get sick/personal days either. one of the owners' daughters, the office manager, was just called last wk and her ex-BF received her notice at their former house, held on to it for 2 wks, gave it to her the day after she was to show up. she called and orange co does not allow excuses of any kind (that is where my Dh was called) so she had to show up. spent the entire day there, she got $10 and even thou she is an owners' daughter got no pay from work. she is a single mom w/ a house in foreclosure and credit cards wayyy behind an will end up short selling oweing the IRS alot of $$$. she could not afford to miss a day but had no choice.

how exactly does that serve justice? if i could afford to not get paid for that much time or i had an employer who paid i'd do it but i will not suffer financial set backs to do so. ~ liz

Excuse me, but whereinhell do you get this?:

"often people on juries are out for other things than seeing someone receive a fair trial."

I've served on juries (and it seems you never do). You've gone beyond objectionable. I don't assume, EVER. It appears that you do.

Good for you deborah! Three months must have felt like a lifetime.

I agree with Sue 36 - this is the cost of a free society and like it or not, it is our civic duty.
Both times I have been called, I was chosen - go figure. The last time was awful - a three week trial involving a horrific accident that resulted in a child becoming paraplegic. I had to go home in the evening and try to catch up on work - which was ever mounting. The commute was horrendous and it seemed like it rained almost every day. Yep - it sucked in every single way, but it just needed to be done. We can't accept the privileges of living in the society without doing the work - serving on a jury when called is a very small price to pay.

Liz...I'm so sorry to hear that you cannot afford to lose even 1 day's work in order to fulfill your duty as a citizen.

Thankfully, there are many people in this country who accept the duties of a citizen in order to see that justice is served. Others just take the benefits and run.

I personally don't think there is any reason to attack another poster for a different point of view. Sometomse life experiences serve to cause one to think a certain way. I myself have served on several juries. In Texas once you reach a certain age you don't have to sere anymore.

I served as 4th alternate on a jury this summer. Had to take the train downtown and walk to the courthouse. It was attempted murder. The defendant was a gangbanger with tatoos all over. Some of the testimony was through a translator. Alternates cannot be in on the deliberations, so all 4 of us alternates waited and waited and waited. In the end it was a hung jury.

I don't mind doing jury duty. I've been called several times, but was only chosen for one case so far, attempted murder.

We sat through the whole case but right after we started deliberation it was declared a mistrial because of a mistake one lawyer had made. That was frustrating.

The last time I was called they didn't need most of us and said goodbye until next year. That was okay with me.

My teaching job will pay me for a few days of service, but some trials go longer, so I ask to be rescheduled during my vacation time.

Two words: Jury Nullification.

I also believe that jury duty is one of the prices of a free society. I'm a lawyer and have done lots of criminal jury trials, and I am always very impressed at how seriously most jurors take their duty.

I've been called three times, but never seated. I know most of the criminal defense attorneys around here, so I would be disqualified from most criminal juries. I wouldn't mind sitting on a civil jury, but have never been called.

Around here, no one gets paid for jury duty, not even for parking. We have a "one day/one jury" system, and very few people are excused. You don't get excused because you're self-employed, or because you're "indispensable" at work, or because you have kids at home.

I recently served on a 12 day jury duty stint. It was 2 kids in their early 20's being charged with attempted murder and several other charges. It was extremely interesting to me. I found out when it came time to deliberate that I was an alternate. I was so bummed that I would not be able to have a voice in the decision.

I don't remember what we got paid. I didn't have to park, because I had my husband drop me off and pick me up. It is just too scary in downtown Las Vegas for me...to be alone and parking in a garage. There was only one person that was excused out of the over 150 called. He had a high dollar non-cancelable flight out of the country. The girl who's mother was dying...was not excused. The girl who had two small children, had just moved to Las Vegas and didn't know anyone that she trusted to leave her children with...was not excused. They didn't excuse anyone, other than the guy flying out of the country and the lady that was getting chemo.

I feel that if you are called, it is your responsibility to serve.

Whenever I receive a jury summons, everyone has a suggestion as to what I can do or say to get out of it. When I received one last month, even my boss (an attorney) came to my office to give me a suggestion. I just tell them that it is my privilege and obligation to serve if called, so that's that. I missed a day of work and sat through the entire day never even being called and then sent home at the end of the day. Boring? Yes. We couldn't even read a book while we waited as the judge wanted us to pay close attention.

Years ago I got a summons for federal grand jury and boy, they were accepting NO excuses - upcoming wedding, sole proprietor, you name it. I was not chosen for that one, but those of us who weren't chosen were sent down the hall to be in the pool for other cases. I landed on one of those. It lasted a week, was an international drug smuggling case. It was interesting and educational.

Not knocking those, who for health reasons have real hardship serving on a jury, but for those of us who are able, I believe we should go and serve, if selected, with a good attitude.

This is one of those topics that is similar to voting. Some take their responsibility, some don't. Some look for their own convenience, profit and consideration over responsibility. Some take it seriously and do the best they can do.

I understand and respect anyone not WANTING to do their duty. I don't have a problem with different people having different likes and desires. But I have to draw the line if someone truly makes thousands a week and says they can't afford to take the time. I think they need help budgeting their funds if that truly is the case.

I also have to question if someone is so "indispensable". In theory a one person operation is about the only way that applies, but then again, someone else can do it. What happens when these "indispensable" people get sick, die or in a bad accident? The world goes on without them.

I get a summons almost every year a year. You are assigned a juror number for one week when you call a phone number daily to check your status. If your juror number is called you go in. If at the end of the week they don't need you (or sometimes sooner) you won't get a summons for at least another year.

I have only been called in once. We filled out pages of info for the attorneys. I was dismissed. I will always be dismissed. I'm too honest and that is not what most attorneys are looking for. The want fence sitters who can be swayed. I'd be happy to serve but it's very unlikely I ever will be chosen.

Once you go in if you are not seated that day your service is over. They do not have you come back for another day.

The odd thing about our county is that the summons comes in the mail. It has all sorts of warnings about how you MUST respond. On the back they have a change of address form. LOL It is not registered and there is no proof of service. So in reality you can ignore the summons because they have no way to know you actually received it.

I have never been called for jury duty in all of my 75 years, neither has my husband. Two daughters were summoned but never used.

Sue

I have been called several times but never seated. I have severe hearing loss, though I wear 2 hearing aids, the judge, lawyers and myself didn't feel confident that I could hear and understand every word spoken. I did have to show proof from my audiologist. One time, I got the official letter in the mail signed by the judge that I was excused and then a few weeks later I received another letter that I was in "contempt of court" for not showing up for jury duty. There was a warrant out for my arrest!!! I immediatley went to the courthouse with discharge letter in hand, faced the judge and showed him HIS letter. Shockingly the judge looked at me and said "noted" waved me away and never apologized for HIS mistake.

What a coincidence. My 20 year old daughter got a summmons for Jury Duty in Brooklyn (Federal Court) just yesterday. She asked "Mom, get me out of this!" I told her, I can't you have to go the first day. If you want to , tell the judge you are a college student (true) and can't miss class, you've already paid your tuition (also true). And tell them your Mom is willing to serve in your place.

During my many years, I have been called upon for jury duty. Have always served, the local jury trials were not a probllem. I was called for federal about 15 years ago. Had to drive two and a half hours away. This presented a problem. I not not a very good driver and driving five hours a day round trip presented a problem to us. Hubby took the week off to drive me, the judge stated that no one could be excused due to the length of the drive since it was federal. No other person was from our town. I was chosen for the case and it ended up the case went into a week and a half. It ended up that he took off an extra week to get me there. While serving there was another lady from the opposite end of the state whose husband was driving her back and forth. Think if I had been 65 at the time, they would have dismissed me due to the circumstances.

Hate it. Got called for our county and spent a week as an alternate juror. The court house was 15 minutes away so that was okay. Two weeks later I got a notice for Federal and had to go to downtown Chicago (50 miles away). I called and said "I just did jury duty" and they said "Federal is seperate and you have to be there". So I went and sat for a whole week and didn't get picked. A month later I got a notice for Federal Grand Jury. Again I called and said "I just did jury duty" and they said "Federal Grand Jury is seperate and you have to be there". Needless to say I was pissed. So I went...with a full blown head and chest cold. When I got there the lady said "Since you have a cold, why didn't you call and and be put on a wait list"? I replied.."You wanted me here so you got me"! I didn't get picked after they heard me cough, wheeze and sneeze.

I did ask WHY I got 3 notices in less than a year and she said my name is taken off the voting list. The next day I removed my name from the voting registration.

Can't vote but then I have not been called for jury duty.

SamKaren
your resident DJ

missing 1 day is no big deal (i am proud of the fact that i've only missed 1 day every 2 yrs, sick) but the possibility for 2 weeks just can't be swung, either last yr or this yr w/ a more than 20% reduction in pay due to the economy in 2009. i tightened my budget to adjust but missing pay would mean something just doesn't get paid and it wouldn't ever be made up as i spend all that i get on my budget, there is no wiggle room right now. when my DH is done w/ his master's degree in may 2011 then i can no problem but not while i am the sole earner and payer and especially when his college expenses eat and additional $1000 a month from my budget. loosing that 23% of income basically took away what i put in savings and we actually have eaten away a $1000 a month out of savings since dh has been in school fulltime.

but as i said in orange co they accept NO excuses, not work, not health, not kids, not school and no doctors note's either. infact when my dh did his day the people who protested or tried to be excused were singled out and taken, they just filled up the # they needed before they got to DH's #. otherwise even thou he is a straight A honor's student working on an honors accelerated BS/MS degree he would have had to miss classes. which would have killed his GPA and cost us an extra yr in time. in seminole co they are a bit more lenient, obviously since i got out of it many yrs ago.

i would never give up my voting rights to get off the rolls, thou. that right is very important to me. here in FL they draw from driver's licenses. and i do need to amend the seminole co pay, it went up to $15 a day last Sept. i would do my civic duty i just don't want to ruin my financial standing or credit to do so for the next yr :-) ~ liz

ps i am glad we can discuss, what at times, is deemed a "hot topic" i enjoy others' opinions and do take in and allow opinions to shape my own.

i have a somwhat tainted view of our system. I would enjoy the experience of serving on a jury, but only if I was allowed to ask questions. (is that only a Pennsylvania thing?)
My ex was a police officer. I sat in on a couple cases he had to testify in. One in particular left a bad taste...
It involved a woman accused of molesting a minor in her care. ( the child was about 2 or 3)
Because of the way the laws are written, he was required to arrest her. - please don't ask me to explain the laws, I don't really understand them -
By the time it went to trial, he believed her to be innocent. She had a terrible public defender. My ex was only able to testify to the facts he knew and answer questions.
In short she was framed by the other pot-smoking adults in the room. There are lots more details on why we both thought she was innocent, but the attorney's questions only provided enough information for the jury to find her guilty.
Not the juries fault at all.
I will serve if called, but that sure left me shaking my head...
Also I feel bad for responsible police officers...they are supposed to always back the proscecution...what if they think a mistake was made? You can't un-arrest someone.

When my son was 12 years old he received a summons to be on the Grand Jury in San Francisco. I called the court to tell them that he was 12, but they didn't believe me. I had to take him, his birth certificate and student ID to prove his age. They all had a good laugh, but my poor son was freaked out lol.

Two words: Jury Nullification.

What does this mean, Dilly Dally? We should not have juries, just judges?

Liz, I truly am confused. In one post you say:

>> if for some reason i was forced to do jury duty i'd vote for conviction no matter what

And in another:

>> i would never trust a 'jury' to judge anyone these days. often people on juries are out for other things than seeing someone receive a fair trial.

How do you reconcile those two comments? Aren't you, in the first comment, the very person that you're talking about in your 2nd comment?

"Also I feel bad for responsible police officers...they are supposed to always back the proscecution."

That is a common misconception. They are supposed to support the laws and justice, not the prosecution. I was an attorney on a trial where a police officer changed his mind. Embarassing for me (the prosecutor), but he was the sole witness. He did what he thought was right.

Jury duty in Philadelphia pays $9 a day. That does not cover parking so I use public transit - about $4.80

First time I was called I made it to a panel of 40 but was dismissed because the asst. DA grew up across the street from me. Bye-bye.

Another time it was a medical malpractice case. They asked if anyone had a medical background and I said I assisted during surgery in Vietnam. See 'ya.

Another time they wanted to know if I knew any policemen or firemen. My BIL's a firefighter. Later.

Another time I was called down on 12/23 which was a Friday that year. I thought it was odd because most businesses give you a half day off on Christmas Eve, or the day before if the 24th is on a Saturday. Well they started taking groups of 40 but instead of 'This next group will go to judge xxx, room xxx.' they just called names. I smelled a rat. Out we went into the hallway, got our $9 checks and were dismissed. Someone had not programmed the automatic mailouts correctly, and they didn't have the guts to tell 600 people they took a day off from work unnecessarily. I was home by 10:30.

I did get on a murder case in '03. The guy got convicted because he made a call from jail - that got recorded - asking his mother to get a witness to change his story. He only got 3rd degree because some of the jurors said they would not agree to any conviction that could get him the death penalty no matter who/how many people he killed.

I really don't mind jury duty because it's better than working. I do realize that I'm one of the lucky few that still gets paid regular wages.

Sue36 - good for him!
In my experience it was almost professional suicide to do something like that...an impossible situation for some to choose between what's the right thing and self preservation. The "brotherhood" can be rough on each other, or your best buddy.

Wildchild are you kidding me? :(
"We filled out pages of info for the attorneys. I was dismissed. I will always be dismissed. I'm too honest and that is not what most attorneys are looking for. The want fence sitters who can be swayed. I'd be happy to serve but it's very unlikely I ever will be chosen."

I most certainly don't consider myself a "fence sitter" who can be swayed willy nilly. I too filled out a 27 page questionaire for the capital murder trial I just sat on... many of the questions made me think long and hard since those chosen would decide for life without parole or death.
And I'm pretty danged sure most people have an informed opinion where they stand on those issues.

The jurors I sat with certainly weren't fence sitters by any stretch of the imagination. And until you've deliberated with 12 intelligent people who bring 12 thought provoking opinions to the table, I think you don't know what the heck you're talking about.

Never been called.

Don't know how they form their list of potential servers.

Canada's less litigious than the U.S.

Canada has fewer lawyers per 100,000 population, I think, than does the U.S. ... and Japan far fewer than either of us.

ole joyful

Posted by socks12345:

Two words: Jury Nullification.

What does this mean, Dilly Dally? We should not have juries, just judges?

No, that is not what it means.

It means that juries have the power to nullify.

For instance, a marijuana case comes up and a teenager is facing decades in prison. The teen was caught red handed and even admitted to the crime of possession. The jury does not agree with the law and/or the minimum sentencing requirement and returns a *Not Guilty* despite overwhelming evidence, numerous witnesses, and maybe even a confession from the defendant obtained by the police.

If a potential juror even brings up the fact that they are aware of the power of nullification they are almost always excluded from a trial.

Read about it here in the link below and Google for more.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/zenger/nullification.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Jury Nullification

The Supreme Court has since repeatedly upheld the doctrine of nullification. It is a jurors right and obligation to uphold the doctrine. Has anyone ever sat on a jury and used the power of nullification? Just curious.