I think I would like it (my employer would still pay me) but I’ve never in my life been called.
I liked being on a Grand Jury. We got to question witnesses and talk to prosecutors. We could even take a day or two off if we needed. Six weeks was a bit long though.
I’d love to be called for jury duty, I think it’d be interesting.
I have about zero chance of ever being picked to be on a jury though 
I’ve never been called for jury duty but would love to be. I think it would be very interesting.
I was almost on a jury once . . . and was looking forward to it. But I was disqualified because I support legalization of drugs.
The only time I was ever called up for jury duty was finals week my senior year in college. Couldn’t make it and have never been called up again.
I did jury duty for the first time a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it as well. I have a university job which covered my time off (only needed two days off), the courthouse was about a 15 minute drive. No free lunch, but the compensation for jury service in Lake County, Ohio is $15.00 per day. The other jury members turned out to be pretty nice people, and the judge was very intelligent and competent.
Me! I’ve been called a few times in PA and MD, but only actually sat on one jury in PA. When we settled in to the deliberation room and someone asked “So, does anyone want to be foreman?” I excitedly proclaimed “I do!!!” as my hand shot up into the air. I was 23 at the time, and the youngest person by at least a decade. They let me be foreman.
It was a simple assault case, but nevertheless one of the jurors (a little old lady) seemed to take a liking to the defendant, and maintained that he was not guilty. It was 11 vs 1 for about 3 hours, and after sending us back to the deliberation room twice the judge eventually declared a mistrial due to a hung jury. We were all pretty upset at that juror, especially after the trial when we learned the defendant was already in prison for another assault that occurred after this one. She was pretty sheepish after she learned that - apparently he wasn’t the gentle soul she thought he was.
I understand that some people have legitimate reasons for missing jury duty, including financial hardship. However, in my experience most of the people who complain about the hardships and inconvenience of jury just need to get over themselves. It sounds cheesy, but you reap the benefits of living in a society with a decent rule of law every day. That’s worth a fair amount of inconvenience every few years. When someone wrongs you, or you’re accused of a crime, you’ll be happy they were able to find 12 people able to hear your case. The flip side is that occasionally you have to be the decider. It’s like paying taxes, it kind of sucks but it sure is nice to have roads and national defense and at least some sort of safety net so that the streets aren’t littered with heaps of poor, sick, dying old people. I’m not saying that financial hardship isn’t a reason to be excused from jury duty: personally, I think employers should have to pay employees at least a portion (say 80%) of their wages missed due to serving. If nothing else, it would increase the number of potential jurors with lower incomes.
I served on a jury my senior year of undergrad and I quite enjoyed it. It was a civil case and actually quite interesting - involving a substance abusing man who was hit by a car and sustained a traumatic brain injury. The whole thing was whether or not the insurance company should have to pay for the treatment of his injury at a facility that specialized in dual treatment (Brain injury recovery with substance abusers.) It was a near unanimous vote that the insurance company was just trying to weasel out of its responsibility for this guy.
The thing is, we jurors seemed to take a liking to each other. The judge was very nice, I learned a lot, and we got hot chocolate every morning. I did have an exam that week so I spent most of our breaks studying.
I’d be fine with doing it again, though I understand what a PITA it could be if you had other, important things to do. Also, I’m not sure I would ever be chosen for a case like that again, considering the fact that I am now a social worker.
Called twice, served once on a MS-13 related murder trial. I really enjoyed it at the time. I was impressed with how seriously the jurors took their duties. It actually gave me a little more faith in the system. I don’t think I would ever make it past voir dire now, though, since my father was murdered. I doubt I could handle sitting in a court and I don’t think any lawyer would want me.
I called called up once, but I was out of state in college, so I didn’t have to go.
Both my mother and my father-in-law love being called up. My mother’s been called up three times in the past few years - twice she was dismissed due to being a city employee, but once she got to stay on. She’s very civic-minded, so it was a delight to her.
My father-in-law loves it, too, he works really hard to get to the point where the lawyers start asking about what one does for a living, “Oh, I’m an aerospace engineer, I analyze failure points on experimental designs for the Air Force.” Somehow he never gets picked.
My dad loved jury duty, I think it fed his ego and sense of self-righteousness. My mom hated it, so of course she got called a lot. She rarely served, though. Especially on injury claims, she just told them quite honestly that she was predisposed to giving the injured party everything requested and more, since Dad was nearly killed in a car accident that was someone else’s fault.
I’d love to serve on a jury, except I never will. I was a cop half a lifetime ago. When I check that box on the jury questionnaire about ever having been a cop, I know I’m gonna get blackballed off the panel.
And yet every 2-3 years, I have to go down to the courthouse and lose a day’s billing and sit on my ass reading a book.
Okay, I’ll bite. Why is that? A low crime rate? More “judge” trials than “jury” trials? More plea-bargains? What?
It’s Canada. They’re far too polite to commit any crimes. And when they do, it’s usually resolved by an apology and taking the victim out to a Maple Leafs game.
AMEN to you!! I firmly believe that a Summons for Jury Duty is a bunch of Bureaucratic Bullshit that is mandated to ensure the fact that every murderer and rapist and any other alleged criminal has the required amount of people to listen to a bunch of garbage and twisted facts/evidence and decide their fate. I also believe that during the trial the defendant has more rights and priviledges than the juror. I recently received a summons with a link to answer stupid questions. i submitted a medical excuse along with the questionnaire. Low and behold I then received another summons and a 28 page questionnaire with questions inquiring about my personal beliefs., what tv shows I watch, what do my bumper stickers say etc. etc… I called my County’s Court Administrator because Jury Management did not returm ny calls to inquire about my obligation to complete the 28 page questionnaire with way too many questions that are none of their business because of my Medical. The answer was YES due to the fact it was case specific and the lawyers will decide if I am excused. I asked if the lawyers also had a medical degree. Bottom Line… Jury Duty should not be Mandatory!!!
It sounds like America is not the country for you.
I’ve been on a jury and the best part was relating to the other jurors, having lunch with them and such. For me the hardest part was refraining from laughing about mess-ups.in court. It’s hard to stifle that it in a dead space like a courtroom. If the trial is short and the jurors are friendly it can be nice.
I haven’t been called in years. I’ve never been called when it was physically possible for me to serve (was in school in a different state, was overseas etc). I really don’t want to do it. I’ve been in court many times as either a witness or security. I find sitting in court to be extremely boring and uncomfortable. I would be worried I would get in trouble for falling asleep.
Been called a few times, only sat on a jury once, a few years back. It was interesting. I enjoyed seeing the whole process, even if the prosecutor was incompetent. B&E, they appeared to have a heck of a case against the accomplice, but the guy actually on trial they had almost nothing. All they really had on him was a really crappy surveillance video. We all agreed he almost certainly did it, but the state simply did not make their case, and the judge agreed with us when she came to talk to us after the verdict. Not guilty!
(based on things said by the police on the witness stand, it was pretty clear the guy wasn’t just on the hook for this, so we were comfortable letting him walk on this one; he definitely wasn’t walking free that day, he clearly had another trial ahead of him)