Jury duty

[BlueLineFish 615]

When somebody who doesn't know me tells me what I should and shouldn't do I get a bit annoyed. The whole jury system is a waste of time. They spend more time tossing people because of lame excuses, or because all of a sudden people don't speak English. I could be working right now serving the public doing far more than I am sitting in a room. My job is civil service so a note telling me that I have to do this a part of my civic duty is ridiculous.

[Ray Ray 3,566]

I was on a case once, a few years back. But I can't talk about it.

[BigHayden 77]

When somebody who doesn't know me tells me what I should and shouldn't do I get a bit annoyed.

 

That's funny, since you told me what I should keep believing.

 

I feel like there's a saying about this. Something about glass houses...

[BigHayden 77]

The whole jury system is a waste of time. They spend more time tossing people because of lame excuses, or because all of a sudden people don't speak English. I could be working right now serving the public doing far more than I am sitting in a room. My job is civil service so a note telling me that I have to do this a part of my civic duty is ridiculous.

 

The jury system has become much of a waste of time. It wasn't, when it was designed. Didn't your first post say you had to serve jury duty on your week off? Now you could be working? Which is it?

 

My job is a civil service job too, but that still doesn't preclude me from performing other civic duties.

[Sandy 44]

I got called once , only once . It was the beginning of this year..I had a baby that had been in and out of the hospital starting with the NICU..he was home with me on a cardiac and respiration monitor because he was having cyanotic episodes . I wrote all that in the section where you are suppose to write in a reason why you can't serve..I got a note back that I had to get a letter from a physician , send it back , and again await approval for dismissal .

 

I should have just told them I did not speak English .

[Kasanova 2]

 

How do you get dismissed so fast

 

To tell you the truth, I really don't know. I never call the day before so maybe they didn't need my selection and I find out when I get there.

 

Sent from my LG-P925 using Tapatalk

[tony357 386]

I was on a case once, a few years back. But I can't talk about it.

 

I think you are still on that case......LMAO.....

[Ray Ray 3,566]

I think you are still on that case......LMAO.....

 

It wasn't meant as a joke.

[BlueLineFish 615]

I can work my vacation days if I choose too. Also im not telling you what do do because i really dont care what you do. The whole process is a joke. They spend more time dismissing people for various reasons. That wastes so much time by itself. Why not have a large pre screened pool of people who want to be there or supposedly have no where to be. Retirees, those on welfare, etc. I am not turning this into another political debate about the system and whether or not it is useful. You have your opinion i have mine but dont tell me that as a cop i should appreciate it and the system or that i only like the carrying a gun part.

[reloaderguy 30]

When the judge asks "Do you have any reason why you can't sit on the jury" I usually say "No. Not really. If the case made it this far than it's pretty likely that the person is guilty". Judge say's "Dismissed"!

[BigHayden 77]

Usually one of the questions asked is about the weight you would give a police officer, whether you give his testimony more, less, or the same weight as any other person. The OP is LEO, so disclosing that he would blindly believe anything another officer tells him would get him dismissed by the defense post haste.

[BigHayden 77]

I can work my vacation days if I choose too. Also im not telling you what do do because i really dont care what you do. The whole process is a joke. They spend more time dismissing people for various reasons. That wastes so much time by itself. Why not have a large pre screened pool of people who want to be there or supposedly have no where to be. Retirees, those on welfare, etc. I am not turning this into another political debate about the system and whether or not it is useful. You have your opinion i have mine but dont tell me that as a cop i should appreciate it and the system or that i only like the carrying a gun part.

 

If the whole process is a joke, then why do you remain a police officer?

 

I'm not trying to antagonize you, I actually want to know.

[Soju 153]

No you don't......

[BlueLineFish 615]

So now i "blindly" believe a fellow officer no matter what? I get it now. And as to why i still do it. I can still make a difference regardless of what the courts do. When the criminals get off and do what they so best i will so what i do. I also still so it because i love my job and take pride in my job. You can hate LEO all you want. I dont need your approval. Glad to took this thread in a useless direction. Thread over

[Zell959 40]

Got called for jury duty a few months ago and found myself in the middle of a pretty intolerable state of limbo for almost 3 full days.

 

Arrived on day one & was immediately called to a courtroom along with 100 other people. The second we step into the courtroom, it's explained that no cell phones & laptop use is permitted at any time. Didn't seem like a big deal at first, because I didn't expect to be there long.

 

In the courtroom, judge explains case involves murder charges & is expected to last MONTHS! But I didn't really worry at that point, because I honestly had the utmost confidence I would not be found suitable for the jury, plus I made the mistake of assuming I'd get the opportunity to explain just how distruptive serving on such a trial would be for me [as I had only recently started a new position within my company].

 

The judge starts off by asking everyone who can't serve because it would cause severe "financial" or other "hardship" to raise their hands. Since that wasn't quite a fit for my own concerns, I didn't raise my hand. Unfortunately, 60 other people DO. Worst of all, the judge interviews everyone individually in her chambers. This takes until 10:30pm on my second day of jury duty! Keep in mind, my service was 3 days or 1 case, and I'm still techically "assigned" to this case until I get specifcally called to the jury & dismissed.

 

Then, finally, we get questionaires that are going to be used to "streamline" the jury assessment process. We spend 4 HOURS going over 60 of the most straightforward questions I've ever seen in my life. Finally, we're done reviewing the questionaire and everyone fills it out. End of day 2, and my sanity is already waning...

 

Start of day 3, they finally call their first set of 12 to the box & I'm number 8. "Good" I figure. I need to be up there to get dismissed in the first palce and I'm essentailly 8th in line to go over my questionaire, right? NOPE. If a juror has any YES answers, the judge calls them into her chambers to discuss it privately. So they'd go to the chambers, go over the yes answer & return to the court. They would NOT go over anything other than the specific "Yes" answer that precipitated the move to the judges chambers, so people would sometimes return to court only to have to go right back to the judges chambers after another "yes" later on in the questionaire. Each time they did this took AT LEAST 30 minutes!

 

On top of that, the majority of the people called were ultimately getting dismissed AND they would replace that juror seat & start again with the person they just called before moving on. They went through 5 people before finally being able to move onto interviewing the 2nd juror, at which point I realized how horribly wrong I was about the benefit of being called 8th.

 

Towards the end of day three I started doing the math & realized that even optimistic assumptions meant it'd be wed of the following week before I'd be interviewed at the rate they were going (meaning I'd have already been out of work for 6 days), when I'd walked in pretty much assuming I'd be out in 1 or 2 days. I also start to genuinely fear a scenario where I don't ultimately get dismissed and actually end up on this case.

 

Finally, in a moment of despiration, I asked a question to the judge in open court that got her attention. A few minutes later, after she was done resolving another matter in her chambers, I was called back. Finally granted a chance to speak to the judge, I pleaded my case, citing the significant opportunity cost the trial would impose on me. I also did my best to present myself as the kind of juror I assume most prosecutors & defense attorneys would generally dismiss, but was in no way dishonest about anything.

 

She then sent me back to sit in my seat. What felt like an hour later, she emerged & said that I was dismissed and it was finally all over.

 

Looking back, I almost sort of have survivors guilt over the whole thing , as I'll bet a decent chuck of those people are still stuck in that courtroom to this very day.

[BlueLineFish 615]

Well I just got dismissed from a criminal case...shocker. Now while waiting downstairs they decide to play "Steel Magnolias". FML.

[raz-0 1,259]

When somebody who doesn't know me tells me what I should and shouldn't do I get a bit annoyed. The whole jury system is a waste of time. They spend more time tossing people because of lame excuses, or because all of a sudden people don't speak English. I could be working right now serving the public doing far more than I am sitting in a room. My job is civil service so a note telling me that I have to do this a part of my civic duty is ridiculous.

 

I'm under 40, and have been called for jury duty something like 12 times since I was 18. I've gotten out of a few because you don't have to serve again within X years. To the best of my recollection, LEO can't serve on grand jury, and were exempted form petit jury until they changed the rules so that public workers don't get the $5. Why baffles me, as except on maybe a civil suit over contract stuff, a cop is NOT going to make it through voi dire. It's a waste of everyone's time and just slows things down.

 

I do find people bitching about NJ jury duty when they don't get attached to a nasty criminal case to be laughable though. At a previous job, our customers were all over the country. One interrupted a project for jury duty in the middle of nowhere in the pacific northwest. 1 day/1 trial is a CAKEWALK compared to theirs, which is 3 weeks as many trials as they can get done, or one trial that exceeds 3 weeks. Hell I made an effort to dodge federal grand jury. That stuff was like 1 day a week for 18 weeks.

[NJScott 15]

Part of the problem a lot of people have with serving jury duty in Hudson County (where BLF lives) is the PITA of getting there (either on rush-hour transportation, which could take up to an hour from downtown Bayonne), or the lack of free parking where the courthouse is located in Jersey City. Add onto that the UNIQUE experience of rubbing shoulders with some of the worst scumbags who infest this part of the state, and you have one dissatisfied potential juror. Given the fact that Fish is a LEO, I would expect a HUGE amount of frustration on his part, as there is no way he'll ever actually get picked for any jury.

 

Unlike Ocean County, for instance, where I once served on a two-day civil trial and got free parking and NO pan-handlers or potential muggers to dodge, the jury duty experience 'round here is simply awful.

[JackDaWack 2,895]

My sister just got called for jury duty today...one problem... she hasn't lived in the US for over 4 years! lol!

[BlueLineFish 615]

Nothing like walking around the courthouse and passing individuals who I have dealt with in the past. It's blocks from where I work and a lot of the shitums I deal with regularly hang out there or near there. Now they see me not in uniform. I have to be careful when I go there

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Nothing like walking around the courthouse and passing individuals who I have dealt with in the past. It's blocks from where I work and a lot of the shitums I deal with regularly hang out there or near there. Now they see me not in uniform. I have to be careful when I go there

 

Honestly - I wish you were exempt from this. But still, there's a reason why you can carry.

[M4BGRINGO 139]

I told them that I have a small company, 14 employees, if I am not there the company will not run. Should I shut our doors for the length of the possible trial you want me on? They don't care, complete and utter morons. Judges think they have to answer to no one.

[woodentoe 14]

I told them that I have a small company, 14 employees, if I am not there the company will not run. Should I shut our doors for the length of the possible trial you want me on? They don't care, complete and utter morons. Judges think they have to answer to no one.

 

The judge is in a tough spot. They need to fill the box with jurors. Nobody wants to be there unless they have no life. To be honest, one of the most terrifying things to me about being possibly a criminal defendant is that my fate rests in the hands of 12 people who want to end their service as quickly and painlessly as possible no matter what the case.

 

*shudder*

[Murphy4570 15]

The judge is in a tough spot. They need to fill the box with jurors. Nobody wants to be there unless they have no life. To be honest, one of the most terrifying things to me about being possibly a criminal defendant is that my fate rests in the hands of 12 people who want to end their service as quickly and painlessly as possible no matter what the case.

 

*shudder*

 

Watch 12 Angry Men sometime. The whole thing is on youtube. Fascinating stuff, and exemplifies the exact reasons why good, honest men and women should not buck out of jury duty.

 

http://youtu.be/s0NlNOI5LG0

 

 

I myself have never been called to jury duty, but would serve if called. This is one duty that is required of American citizens, and no one should try to shirk their duty.

[woodentoe 14]

Watch 12 Angry Men sometime. The whole thing is on youtube. Fascinating stuff, and exemplifies the exact reasons why good, honest men and women should not buck out of jury duty.

 

http://youtu.be/s0NlNOI5LG0

 

 

I myself have never been called to jury duty, but would serve if called. This is one duty that is required of American citizens, and no one should try to shirk their duty.

 

I've seen and love this film. Naturally, this is all true what you've said. However, I'm self-employed and I have three small children at home. I lose a day's wages to appear, but if on a trial the financial impact on my family is great. Let this not be overlooked if we're going to accuse someone of shirking. Everyone has their own lives. It is impossible to expect every jury pool to have a Henry Fonda in it.

[KpdPipes 388]

so are we saying that the "jury of our peers" is really a "jury of people easily distracted by shiny things picked to make lawyers look good"?

 

DING DING DING DING.....everyone that tries so hard to get out of it, should remember that if they ever get jammed up...it's those same drooling Morons who will be deciding THEIR Guilt or innocence. Last time I got called, I had to sit for 3 days, and every case I got called for was Criminal...by the end of the first day the Assignment Judge (Who I knew already from appearing before him in other courts) Didnt even look up before excusing me from each Pool....i still had to sit there though.

[KpdPipes 388]

Nothing like walking around the courthouse and passing individuals who I have dealt with in the past. It's blocks from where I work and a lot of the shitums I deal with regularly hang out there or near there. Now they see me not in uniform. I have to be careful when I go there

 

No, you Carry, and go in the back door off of Pavonia, the SO 's Admin office is right there and they have Lock Boxes so you can secure your firearm....Hell I used to take the PATH over when I had Jury duty..get a ride into Harrison, train to Journal Square, walk to the back door, secure my gun, and up the elevator to the 4th floor.

[BlueLineFish 615]

I carried there and just locked it up every time i left and came back

[RecessedFilter 222]

I really find it odd why so many people have such a problem with jury duty. To most, it's a pita, annoying, or straight worthless.

 

I served as a juror two years ago for jury duty. I went to college with an interest in the law and found it very, very interesting. My case wasn't 'fun', but it was still really cool to see the full process that many people don't get to witness. I can definitely say that I fully enjoyed partaking in it.

[Parker 213]

I've been summoned many times. Just got called again for next month.

 

In 1990, I served on a petit jury for 6 1/2 weeks. That was a bit long. All the jurors pretty much had their minds made up by the end of the first week, but it dragged on longer with hundreds of exhibits that were introduced into the scenario. My favorite theatric was the closing argument by the plaintiff's defense, when the attorney, a crafty Southern lawyer, produced a toy water pistol with a cigarette stuffed in the muzzle, waved it at the jury, and said, "I want you to ignore the obvious smoking gun."