Current Events > Jury duty is bullshit

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This shit sucks. About to find out if Im picked or not to serve. If so, the trial starts immediately and Ill have to come in tomorrow to finish it.

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Yeah, I find court very boring, so I hate getting those jury duty summons. I actually just finished mine last week. I called in every night, but never actually had to go in. I'm grateful because the last time I got summoned, the case I served on lasted for 2 weeks.

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Rain_Dust posted...

The trick was to be opinionated and say you have family that have been victims of the same crime you are there for. The lawyers wont pick you because they want to win.

Alternatively, at least with the courts around here, they ask if you have family members that have been involved in crimes. So if you have a family member that has had things like DUIs or Domestic calls then the overwhelming majority of defense attorneys will dismiss you. So having a crazy uncle or whatever, you know the type, can be a boon if you dislike jury duty.

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MaxEffingBemis posted...

This shit sucks. About to find out if Im picked or not to serve. If so, the trial starts immediately and Ill have to come in tomorrow to finish it.

What time zone are you? Pretty sure when I did it were in at 8 and learned if we were selected by 10.

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I've been summoned three times, and served on one jury for a criminal case maybe five years ago. I'd always kinda thought it was important, but after actually being on a jury, I now think it's very important.

Some of the other jurors didn't give a shit what was happening, and the verdict could've easily been swayed by some very poor reasoning during deliberations. And it almost was. But I was personally able to get some jurors to pay better attention to the evidence, and that ended up mattering a lot. It's one of the few times in my life where I felt like I had a legitimate role to play in the US political process.
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I live in a small county so they keep redrawing me for jury duty (you can only serve once every 2 years and every 2 years they draw my fkin name) so I just don't go lol

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You guys getting upset about the pay need to take that up with your employer. Any employer who isn't a piece of shit will pay your if you're selected for Jury Duty.

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I never understood the process. Idk it seems like the most ineffective way to convict someone.

You take a complete nobody who knows nothing about law or the case and spin a narrative to prove innocence. I always think of the OJ case when it comes to Jury duty and how the dude should have gone to jail for life. Granted there's a whole background of racial tension and the justice system, but it shouldn't have happened.

Like wouldn't a panel of lawyers that review the case be a more effective way and not the barista at Starbucks?

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fuck the high horse judges and contempt of court

the whole system is corrupt

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Slaya4 posted...

I never understood the process. Idk it seems like the most ineffective way to convict someone.

You take a complete nobody who knows nothing about law or the case and spin a narrative to prove innocence. I always think of the OJ case when it comes to Jury duty and how the dude should have gone to jail for life. Granted there's a whole background of racial tension and the justice system, but it shouldn't have happened.

Like wouldn't a panel of lawyers that review the case be a more effective way and not the barista at Starbucks?

They actively do not want people who know law to be on a jury. If you show up and be like "I went to law school for 3 years" they will send you home.

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Slaya4 posted...

I never understood the process. Idk it seems like the most ineffective way to convict someone.

You take a complete nobody who knows nothing about law or the case and spin a narrative to prove innocence. I always think of the OJ case when it comes to Jury duty and how the dude should have gone to jail for life. Granted there's a whole background of racial tension and the justice system, but it shouldn't have happened.

Like wouldn't a panel of lawyers that review the case be a more effective way and not the barista at Starbucks?

Because it's our 6th amendment right. "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, which dist"

It's basically there as a check and balance for criminal justice. We talk about the systemic racism that's prevalent in our justice system. Imagine how much worse it would be if all criminal cases were decided by the judges or lawyers within that system?

You don't need to like jury duty (I sure as hell don't), but definitely understand the importance of it.

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it's pretty fucked up if a job doesn't give you full pay or a free day/days off or whatever if summoned

because your options are either get fired for no-showing, or get arrested for skipping jury duty

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NoxObscuras posted...

Imagine how much worse it would be if all criminal cases were decided by the judges or lawyers within that system?

you do realize a majority of the countries around the world function this way.

and while many countries are easy to corrupt, do you really think america has better "results" or "a more fair trial" than any of them because lawyers can use random people who are easier to mentally manipulate?

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Guerrilla Soldier posted...

you do realize a majority of the countries around the world function this way.

and while many countries are easy to corrupt, do you really think america has better "results" or "a more fair trial" than any of them because lawyers can use random people who are easier to mentally manipulate?

Better results? Who knows. Fairer? Yes. The problem with having a lone judge decide things is that bias can run out of control. Say a single judge decides the outcome of all cases in his town and he happens to hate black people. That's not really gonna go well for the black folk in that town now is it? Obviously there still is bias in juries but lawyers can at least try to weed that shit out.

I had to serve today and I have to go back in tomorrow. Shit is wack. Court is so boring.

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MaxEffingBemis posted...

I had to serve today and I have to go back in tomorrow. Shit is wack. Court is so boring.

Should have just said "I love cops"

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MaxEffingBemis posted...

I had to serve today and I have to go back in tomorrow. Shit is wack. Court is so boring.

Should have just been one of those dudes that just don't show up. Covid is making it pretty difficult for them to go out of their way to fill those jury seats.

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At least it done happen that often.

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