# Do celebrities ever have jury duty? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311 "2003-09-08T15:07:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AV8R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@AV8R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AV8R)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/1 "2003-09-08T15:07:47Z")
A town like Hollywood has a very high percentage of famous celebrities. However, I never hear about them being called in for jury duty. I’ve come up with a few reasons for this: 1. They _do_ participate just like the regular people. They sit in a big room all day with everyone else, waiting so see if they are called. And when they are used nobody really cares, it’s totally uninteresting, and so it doen’t make _Entertainment Tonight_. 2. Even though there are a lot of famous people in Hollywood, they are a very small percentage of the entire city of Los Angelas, and a jury pool is randomly selected from the entire city, so it would be very rare for a celebrity to happen to be picked. 3. Famous people are automatically excused because they would be a big distraction for the rest of the jury and for the case itself. 4. Celebrities (or their people) are always able to find ways to talk their way out of jury duty. So what’s the straight dope on this? ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/2 "2003-09-08T15:27:49Z")
They have jury duty just like everyone else. On shows like “Celebrity Justice” I think they even have a regular feature regarding who’s in trouble for ditching jury duty and who’s a responsible citizen and went. They were just recently interviewing someone on the courthouse steps (I can’t remember who) who joked that since he was between acting gigs he was doing it for the $3 a day. ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/3 "2003-09-08T15:35:44Z")
Three measly dollars? I recently had to do jury duty and got a whopping $15. I never even had to serve. We were all excused at noon. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/4 "2003-09-08T17:54:56Z")
I remember Oprah got called a while back. When Dubya was Gov of Texas he got called. They do sometimes show up and every time I have heard that they are excused because their presence would provide a distraction (in Dubya’s case, I think it was a criminal case which would have been a possible conflict of interest.) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/5 "2003-09-08T19:16:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by watsonwil \* > \*\*in Dubya’s case, I think it was a criminal case which would have been a possible conflict of interest. \*\* Yes. If he got sufficiently bored, he might just pardon the guy in the middle of the trial just to get the heck out of there. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/6 "2003-09-08T19:36:57Z")
Peter Guber, former studio head at Sony, was on the Winona Ryder jury. Guber’s not a household name to the liukes of you or me, but among celebs, he’s someone whose calls get returned. ---
**Author:** ![joshmaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a587f6/32.png) [@joshmaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joshmaker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/7 "2003-09-08T20:28:11Z")
Bill Clinton was selected for Jury Duty: [http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/01/clinton.jury.duty.ap/](http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/01/clinton.jury.duty.ap/) However, I never heard if he ended up serving or was excused. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/8 "2003-09-08T20:53:38Z")
Anecdotal… When I was called for jury duty here in NYC in early 2001, Janeane Garofalo was there the first day. She didn’t seem to do anything to try to get excused based upon her name or fame, she sat in the pool with the rest of the jurors and read a book. I tried to see what she was reading, but I couldn’t find a way to catch a glimpse of the cover without staring at her in a vaguely freaky stalkerish way that didn’t seem appealing. 😃 On my second day I saw actress Donna Murphy (Tony award winner, not a household name or face, though) happily taking off her juror badge during the lunch break; she was either excused or her trial had ended, I’m not sure which. On my third day, my trial was cancelled for the day so we were excused about the time that the batch of new jurors for that day were arriving, and in that batch was Chris Noth from Law & Order/Sex and the City. No word on whether he tried to get out of service, but he didn’t look at all happy to be there. ---
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/9 "2003-09-08T22:56:01Z")
One possible reason you’ve not seen a lot of celebrities at jury duty call, is that, in order to be called for jury duty, one must first vote in a general election; this gets ones name put in the pool of names that are selected from. Many celebrities, due to apathy, hectic schedules or whatever, simply fail to vote(You’ll notice on election eve they always show the candidates doing their civic duty, but you rarely see footage of movie stars and such going to the polls). This makes them ineligible for jury duty(I know a few people who have deliberately not voted in order to not be selected for jury duty). Chris W ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/10 "2003-09-08T23:11:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by riserius1 \* > \*\*One possible reason you’ve not seen a lot of celebrities at jury duty call, is that, in order to be called for jury duty, one must first vote in a general election; this gets ones name put in the pool of names that are selected from. > Many celebrities, due to apathy, hectic schedules or whatever, simply fail to vote(You’ll notice on election eve they always show the candidates doing their civic duty, but you rarely see footage of movie stars and such going to the polls). > This makes them ineligible for jury duty(I know a few people who have deliberately not voted in order to not be selected for jury duty). > > Chris W \*\* That’s not true, at least not in Massachusetts. I know plenty of people who have gotten jury duty but haven’t voted. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/11 "2003-09-09T00:47:52Z")
Indeed. And in NY, names for jury duty are taken both from the voting rolls and people registered at the DMV. ---
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/12 "2003-09-09T04:34:09Z")
My bad, that’s how it works here in Ohio;bad assumption on my part that it was true elsewhere. Chris W ---
**Author:** ![Billdo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/billdo/32/315_2.png) [@Billdo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Billdo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/13 "2003-09-09T04:38:20Z")
I was in jury duty in Manhattan a few years ago, and in my jury pool was Martin Scorscese. I think he actually got picked for a panel. I was also called into a voir dire with Jane Hanson, a local newscaster, and the president of NYU. None of us got picked, though. New York periodically has an event where all of the celebrities who did jury duty show up. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/14 "2003-09-09T04:39:23Z")
[Giuliani](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/keyraces2000/stories/giuliani083199.htm) did in 1999. ---
**Author:** ![epraz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/82dd89/32.png) [@epraz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epraz)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/15 "2003-09-09T04:53:34Z")
Billdo, was the nyu prez Oliva or Sexton? ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/16 "2003-09-09T05:58:29Z")
Man, when I had jury duty the closest thing we had to a celebrity was a retired nuclear physicist who’d worked on the Manhattan Project! ---
**Author:** ![terd\_ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@terd\_ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terd_ferguson)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/17 "2003-09-09T06:51:35Z")
Jim Belushi spoke about a case he was involved in on Conan or Jay or the like a few days ago. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/18 "2003-09-09T11:05:02Z")
Not very famous but certainly a known name to some in NYC, Charles McCord, the news reader/sidekick on “Imus In The Morning” was called for jury duty a few years ago and served since he missed several days on the show while doing so. Imus claimed that he shows up when called but says everyone looks guilty to him when in a jury pool until he is dismissed. He only might be kidding. In my neck of the woods when I had jury duty, the closest thing to a local celebrity was the guy who owned the local pool table dealership. But a crowd of people flocked around him to talk at every break, quite the popular fellow. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/19 "2003-09-09T11:36:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Three measly dollars? I got 2 bucks a day when I was called. It didn’t even pay for parking :mad: No wonder everyone tries to get out of jury duty. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2003, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311/20 "2003-09-09T12:06:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by widdershins \* > \*\*Not very famous but certainly a known name to some in NYC, Charles McCord, the news reader/sidekick on “Imus In The Morning” was called for jury duty a few years ago and served since he missed several days on the show while doing so. Imus claimed that he shows up when called but says everyone looks guilty to him when in a jury pool until he is dismissed. He only might be kidding. > > In my neck of the woods when I had jury duty, the closest thing to a local celebrity was the guy who owned the local pool table dealership. But a crowd of people flocked around him to talk at every break, quite the popular fellow. \*\* There was also a case a few years back involving Deidre Coleman, Imus’s wife, being called for jury duty. She asked to speak privately to Judge Waxman to explain who her husband was and that he was going to cover the trial on his news show, so maybe she shouldn’t be on the jury. Apparently Waxman went ballastic and said a few choice things to Mrs. Imus, which she told her husband. He then related the story on his show and called Waxman a few choice words. Waxman in turn threatened to sue Imus. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-celebrities-ever-have-jury-duty/200311.md?page=2)