Jury Duty

ames, you gotta be kidding – the only reason i wanna be 18 already is so that i can serve! it’s sounds so cool – i wish i could.

If someone gets a jury summons, they could always claim to have a 2 year old at home and that they are the primary care giver. This is a valid excuse for an exemption.

Ignoring it is not a good idea at all. Worst case scenario someone with a badge comes down to your house on the day of your summons to find out where you are.

hey moish, forget about serving on a jury at 18. Most 18 year olds have extremely radical views and so most times they will be peremptorally challenged and not even make it to the voir dire. Chances are you won’t even get the chance to show how rational you are.

I filled out the questionnaire online for Dr. Pepper, got a confirmation number and e-mail. A few months later she got a letter saying that since she ignored the questionnaire she must either report to court the very next day or risk facing one year in jail plus a $1,000 fine. I called them, told them about the e-mail and they asked me to forward it to them. Never heard from them again.

As far as jury service is concerned, I never got called but Dr. Pepper did a few times. She just called and said that she’d love to serve on the jury but she’ll need a private room to feed the baby. They always gave her off for a few years. They might have made the system stricter recently though.

ames: you gotta either bring the child or a birth certificate. My mom went thru that recently. I know.

this happened to a relative of mine. they were summoned to a mafia trial and were called into the judges room one by one. both lawyers were also in the room

judge: this trial will be long, any reason you can’t serve?

relative: i have a new job and my boss will not take to kindly to me being gone

judge: NOT ACCEPTABLE, NOTHING CAN BE DONE TO YOU FOR BEING ON A JURY

relative: i am a season ticket holder. the trial will cause me to miss a bunch of games

judge: you are excused

ouch, moish you got me.

But just by the way, if you know how to spell it you should know what it means. It means that they will vote you out before you get a chance to speak since you look 18 and are assumed to have radical views. So much for acting like a pussy cat.

Another thing is that I’m surprised to hear that lawyers are exempted from jury service? Judges are not. Why would lawyers be different? I can understand what happened to your mom – she answered the summons and was excused because they didn’t want her to serve – that’s different from not being called to serve.

squeak, i figured that much.

and maybe i’m wrong (i should ask him) maybe he did get a summons and didn’t serve? i don’t remember anymore. i forgot all the details. i’ll ask him later when he gets home- remind me.

oh and one more thing – i’ll wear stilts and not shave for three weeks and try really hard to look like i’m 25. fat chance that’ll work though…

oh wow thanks for the reminder 😉

ames- what number are you? because not every number has to go every day, call the number on it(i think you can call after 5) and listen and they will tell you if you have to go in the next day or not—-so ames dont worry you may not have to go into hiding just yet

haha just saw that. i’m the biggest makir tov in the world – how dare you call me an ingrate?

i was just thanking you for the unnecessary reminder… imagine? i thank you for something i don’t even need – kal v’chomer when i DO need something! and then you call me a kofuy tov? gee thanks.

i try really hard 😉

by the way i just googled it and saw (from very unreliable sources) that lawyers DO get summons and CAN serve but they are usually not picked for obvious reasons. so i guess i was wrong (if you wanna go by yahoo answers…)

by the way, squeak- never mind that they actually MAILED her a summons and have it on record so they could just show up at her door at any given moment. and take her in for questioning at the nearest station.

ames, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?”

well he doesn’t generally engage in CRIMINAL law…

pro bono is not necessarily criminal law.

and moish were very impressed that youre fluent in miranda rights…hmm…

ames

Member

bais yacov maydel (what’s a maydel?),

maydel is girl, yingel is boy. and I’m cabbage 😉

*kapusta*

If someone gets a jury summons, they could always claim to have a 2 year old at home and that they are the primary care giver. This is a valid excuse for an exemption.

That does not fly anymore. They MIGHT excuse you once, with a birth certificate as proof, but not a second time. The rules are very strict now. I had to come in in the winter in a snowstorm to Queens, and show them both a letter from my Rov explaining about Fridays (that I do not travel more than a half hour’s ride on Erev Shabbos after 1 PM (that’s the truth, btw, having gotten stuck once for three hours in a blizzard, and making it home just to lichtzen), and also from my doctor, with an excuse that is also true, but which I do not want to discuss here. I was excused immediately, and B”H have not been called again, but I did have to show up for that first meeting. I could have handled it over the phone, had I done so in time, but I mislaid the paper and only found it the day before I neededd to start calling the number on the summons.

It is a felony to deliberately not answer a jury summons. You might get away with,”I never saw the mail,” once. Not twice. They have heard every excuse, and could not care less if you have a baby, a mean boss, a lousy professor, a bad back, etc. Just go, do your civic duty, and hopefully you will not hear from them for a while. My hubby served many times on a regular jury and on the Grand Jury (capital case). He actually served for the two weeks. He enjoyed himself very much. It was a break in routine from his teaching. It is against the law for an employer to penalize his employee for serving. You cannot be fired for that.

Tip for jury duty: Postpone until a major holiday (like July 4th, Xmas, etc) they want to get out and start enjoying their time off. They’ll let you go along for the ride.

ames, good luck!

*kapusta*

If you’re a student or a teacher, you can postpone jury duty until your next major vacation (i.e. summer vacation) – they’ll normally reschedule for July.

chacham, why wait till next year? simchas are good NOW!

*kapusta*

I have served on many jury panels over the years (including one organized crime federal case which lasted about 2 months) and I couldn’t agree more.

At times there are only one or two people on a jury panel who have any seichel but you wield a lot of power because verdicts have to be unanimous and if you are strong and don’t cave in to the leftist liberals, then at least you will reach a compromise rather than have the perpetrator a walk home. On the other hand, if you feel that the party should not be found guilty, then of course, you go the other way.

anon for this:

Yes, two jurors may not change the verdict entirely, although it has happened, but you can force a compromise since the rest of the panel either want to go home or they don’t want a hung jury. At the very least you can compromise or have a no decision on a few counts. This (compromising) is why jury decisions often do not make any sense and are at times conflicting.

It’s interesting; everyone in the jury comes with their individual prejudices and temperaments but sometimes you will have a smart jury and a Twelve Angry Men type of scene and logic will play out with angry shouting, etc.

Ames, when I lived in Baltimore City, their policy for jury duty was “one day or one trial.” That means that you go sit in the court room. If you are not picked for a jury, your service is completed at the end of the day (until the city summons you again, usually about 2 years). If you are picked for a jury, your service is completed at the end of the trial, and you can’t be called again for 3 years.

I was picked twice. The first time I was an alternate juror on a murder trial – one guy shot another in the eye and killed him over $10. The other trial was a civil lawsuit which lasted two weeks. I, by virtue of being picked first for the jury, was the foreman for the jury.

I would advise against skipping jury duty. The very first time I went I saw a judge signing bench warrants for those who did not show up for jury duty that day. Besides, as long as you’re sitting and waiting, you can pull out a sefer and learn the time away. (Our jury room also had movies, one before lunch and one in the afternoon!)

I can only try: Yes there is tremendous pressure to give in. Many times one or two people (usually teachers or managers who think they know everything and are used to giving orders and having their way) take over. However, once they see that you won’t capitulate and that you are logical, they have no choice but to take you seriously. Like I said, each jury member has tremendous power and should use it wisely.