# Another idea on how to get out of jury duty **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 15, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087 "2012-12-15T02:40:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/1 "2012-12-15T02:40:03Z")
[You just have to find a way to let them know that YOU know about jury nullification](http://powertothejury.org/) 🙂 (Of course, that website is arguing that you should want to serve on a jury knowing that you have this power, but in the real world we know that informed people usually don’t make it onto the jury). ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/2 "2012-12-15T02:53:56Z")
I presume that another way would be to respond thus: Lawyer: What is your name? MichaelEmouse: Michael of the family Emouse. Lawyer: I’m sorry, what? Could you answer the question? MichaelEmouse: Do you have a claim against me? Has any passenger of this ship established joinder with me? ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/3 "2012-12-15T03:32:54Z")
I’d really enjoy doing jury duty. Every time I get the notice, I get all happy. I tell people about it, OMG!!! I might actually get to serve this time!!! I dress well, or just wear jeans and tshirts. Nothing I can do will work to get me on the jury…so maybe you folks who don’t think that you would like to be judged by a panel of your peers should start doing what I do. Fill out the eligibility form, find the summons in the mail, get excited, tell boss, find iron to press clothes, check online and learn that the trial has been canceled. It works every time. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/4 "2012-12-15T03:43:24Z")
I’ve always thought I’d say “I _should_ be on the jury, because Jesus always tells me who’s guilty. Every day, walking down the street-- might as well do it in the courthouse”. I may try it next month… I really don’t have time to spend a week in court. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/5 "2012-12-15T04:37:15Z")
Don’t register to vote? ---
**Author:** ![Dano83860](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a4c791/32.png) [@Dano83860](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dano83860)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/6 "2012-12-15T05:20:24Z")
Drivers license will get you too. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/7 "2012-12-15T06:20:00Z")
As I usually do whenever the idiotic idea of jury nullification comes up, I’ll point out that the Ghost of [Emmett Till](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till) says jury nullification sucks. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/8 "2012-12-15T06:26:39Z")
The two times I’ve gone, I sit in the waiting room with 300 other people, listen to 200 people’s numbers get called, sit around until 12:30, go have lunch for an hour, get back and have a seat again for 30 minutes and then get told they have everyone they need, the rest of you can go home. Time served: 9am - 2pm, a $17.20 check that I sign over to my employer and get a day’s pay. I’ll take it. ---
**Author:** ![thirdname](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@thirdname](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdname)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/9 "2012-12-15T07:23:49Z")
You could move to a country that doesn’t have jury trials. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/10 "2012-12-15T13:45:25Z")
I’d like to serve on a jury: it’s part of my duty as a citizen. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/11 "2012-12-15T14:40:05Z")
I commit the actual crime the trial is for. Or at least I try to appear to have done so. Pretty devious ehh? When’s the last time you saw the defendant serving on the jury? I rest my case. ---
**Author:** ![gms453](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@gms453](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gms453)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/12 "2012-12-15T16:09:22Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > [You just have to find a way to let them know that YOU know about jury nullification](http://powertothejury.org/) 🙂 > > (Of course, that website is arguing that you should want to serve on a jury knowing that you have this power, but in the real world we know that informed people usually don’t make it onto the jury). Not necessarily. In PA, potential jurors are routinely asked if they will follow the law in arriving at their verdict. If they say no, they won’t be picked to serve on a jury, but that may not get them excused from jury duty; they may just end up sitting in the jury assembly room for a week or two (depending on which county they’re in). ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/13 "2012-12-15T16:23:21Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > As I usually do whenever the idiotic idea of jury nullification comes up, I’ll point out that the Ghost of [Emmett Till](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmett_Till) says jury nullification sucks. There are plenty of examples of failures of justice in law. In the Till case, I would blame the verdict on whatever process was used in the jury selection, rather than the right of jury nullification in itself. What about the cases where jury nullification has been used against laws that most of us now agree are unjust such as slavery laws and alcohol prohibition? ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/14 "2012-12-15T16:31:57Z")
> [@gms453](#): > > Not necessarily. In PA, potential jurors are routinely asked if they will follow the law in arriving at their verdict. If they say no, they won’t be picked to serve on a jury, but that may not get them excused from jury duty; they may just end up sitting in the jury assembly room for a week or two (depending on which county they’re in). That’s probably the best way to do it. It gives people an incentive to want to be picked for a jury just to get it over with rather than purposely trying to get dismissed. I think it would be in the best interest of justice if juries were not mainly composed of “people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty” as they say. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MoodIndigo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@MoodIndigo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoodIndigo1)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/15 "2012-12-15T16:46:04Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > I’d like to serve on a jury: it’s part of my duty as a citizen. I wish there were more people who thought of jury duty this way. Somehow, believing that any bright person can get him/herself out of jury, and then thinking that this is ok, fills me with dread. My experience with jury duty has been more like **Sea Dragon Tattoo** ’s. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/16 "2012-12-15T17:01:56Z")
I would love to do jury duty. As the owner of a business though, I cannot afford to pay employees for time I’m not there. ---
**Author:** ![gms453](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@gms453](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gms453)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/17 "2012-12-15T17:58:09Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > There are plenty of examples of failures of justice in law. In the Till case, I would blame the verdict on whatever process was used in the jury selection, rather than the right of jury nullification in itself. > What about the cases where jury nullification has been used against laws that most of us now agree are unjust such as slavery laws and alcohol prohibition? See General Questions thread from Sep 2012 on this subject. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/18 "2012-12-15T18:55:49Z")
> [@lavenderviolet](#): > > (Of course, that website is arguing that you should want to serve on a jury knowing that you have this power, but in the real world we know that informed people usually don’t make it onto the jury). I hope that if you are ever on trial, you get exactly the type of jury you’re arguing for. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/19 "2012-12-15T19:42:08Z")
Add me to the list of weirdos who would love to do it, but never have. Is there a reason we don’t have a volunteer process? I understand that probably wouldn’t be enough all by itself, but why can’t we take volunteers and also randomly summon people to fill in the rest? ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087/20 "2012-12-15T19:55:46Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Add me to the list of weirdos who would love to do it, but never have. > > Is there a reason we don’t have a volunteer process? I understand that probably wouldn’t be enough all by itself, but why can’t we take volunteers and also randomly summon people to fill in the rest? Honestly, probably because most of the people who would volunteer would be doing it for reasons that have nothing to do with trying to give a fair and disinterested verdict but would be playing childish games like the OP, or otherwise skewing the process. Some people would just be curious and want to know what it’s like. They wouldn’t be a problem. But if you had someone who wanted to be on juries because they wanted to “clean up the streets!” or something like that, then it wouldn’t be okay. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-idea-on-how-to-get-out-of-jury-duty/644087.md?page=2)