Are federal courts operating?
In November, my wife was notified of federal jury duty for the 2nd half of January. Assuming the Trump impasse is not resolved, will she serve?
Here’s an article from the Sacramento Bee that says it’s up in the air.
So best guess - since your wife’s potential jury time falls outside the 3 week limit - would be to touch base with the court in question and ask. It sounds like each court will have to determine what’s what.
They are not in session. I know someone who showed up at the Cleveland federal court on Tuesday and was turned away and told to await a new schedule within the next 6 months.
Dennis
I got an email from the Colorado federal courts that they have enough funds to stay open until January 11th. I was forwarded an email from, I believe, the federal courts in Pennsylvania that they were closed. So, it depends on the federal district.
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As I understand it, criminal cases are expected to proceed, but civil cases are subject to postponement. But there isn’t a hard and fast rule for how the courts manage shutdowns, so anyone called for jury duty in the near future should not blow it off quite yet.
So, they shut down on the 11th.
What happens if Trump plays the National Emergency card and starts ‘military eminent domain’ seizures to build the wall? How do property owners sue?
Eminent domain is, itself, done through the courts. The word for the military seizing things is “plunder”.
Agreed and why I quoted the term.
Question remains.
OK, then, if Trump orders the military to plunder, then the military refuses to follow the unlawful order.
Or some parts of the military refuse, and some follow it, in which case we have civil war.
OP here. We were hoping the federal shutdown would affect the courts, but we were wrong.
Here’s an ethical twist
My wife has to report for federal jury duty at noon tomorrow. It is likely that she will be a potential juror on a trial involving Insys Corporation. The trial may last weeks. Stockholders would likely be excused from jury duty. Could I buy some stock when the market opens at 9:30? (I’m not going to, but I do have an online brokerage account)
Would that not be ‘attempting to pervert the course of justice’?
Why would a prospective US juror be charged with a distinctively UK/Commonwealth crime?
The US law equivalent is “obstruction of justice.”
I’m not a law-talkin’ guy, but I can conceive of no non-extreme circumstance where willful self-disqualification would be construed as a criminal offense.
I’m not your lawyer and not giving legal advice.
Stockholders may be excused but probably not automatically. If you own $25 worth of their stock, the Court may not think it would bias you. On the other hand, if she is asked how long she has been a stockholder in this company, things might get interesting. Think about how it may play out.
Anyone here own any stock in Insys?
Wife raises hand.
How many shares?
5 shares.
How long have you owned them?
3 hours.
Why did you buy 5 shares of this stock three hours ago?
To avoid jury duty.
Depending on the judge, it may not go well after that.
Out of curiousity, I looked up what the deal was. Wow, this is a really serious case. The company and its executives are in criminal and civil trials for bribing doctors to prescribe opioids. A doctor has already been convicted of getting a patient addicted to a fentanyl-based painkiller, including writing prescriptions when the patients said they didn’t want it anymore.
I hope those responsible get a fair trial before their lengthy imprisonment.
Bad answer.
Better answer:
After I heard about the trial, I started investigating the case online and saw that the stock price was depressed because of pending litigation. The more I read about it, the more I realized that the charges had no merit and that no reasonable jury could find against the company. The stock price is certain to rebound at the end the trial. I knew that as a juror, it wouldn’t be right for me to buy shares, so I wanted to hurry and do it before I became a juror.
Well, potential jurors take an oath, so I guess we all have to decide for ourselves how creative our answers should be.
In DC, I had a good-faith reason why I could not serve on a jury, and I was ordered by the judge to reschedule my service. I suppose that in the face of such contempt by a prospective juror, the judge may accept that response and look forward to seeing them next week. 