# East Boston Cat Called For Jury Duty **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777 "2010-01-13T11:08:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/21 "2010-01-13T17:53:08Z")
Okay, so we get 12 cats, and put them in a room with one large square on the floor that says “Guilty” and one large square that says “Innocent,” and whichever square has the most cats sleeping on it is the verdict. Y’all with me? ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/22 "2010-01-13T17:55:04Z")
I was under the impression that all 12 cats have to end up in the same box. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/23 "2010-01-13T18:07:16Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Okay, so we get 12 cats, and put them in a room with one large square on the floor that says “Guilty” and one large square that says “Innocent,” and whichever square has the most cats sleeping on it is the verdict. Y’all with me? If you want to fix it, put a cardboard box in one of them. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/24 "2010-01-13T18:16:19Z")
I can’t blame the jury commissioner who denied the request. I assume his thinking goes: Cat accidentally entered into jury pool: Plausible, but checkable Selfish person wanting to get out of jury duty by claiming its her cat that was called: Probably already happened to the commissioner before, earlier that week. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/25 "2010-01-13T18:20:55Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > I was under the impression that all 12 cats have to end up in the same box. Well, you want a verdict sometime this decade, so I wouldn’t make it that stringent. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/26 "2010-01-13T18:47:47Z")
MA jury pool creation: [http://www.mass.gov/courts/jury/the.htm](http://www.mass.gov/courts/jury/the.htm) Somehow, the cat got on the town resident list as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/27 "2010-01-13T18:48:50Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > I can’t blame the jury commissioner who denied the request. I assume his thinking goes: I assume his thinking goes: If I fix this now, it was just a mistake. The farther this goes, the funnier it gets. If the cat actually sits on a jury, it will be fuckin’ hysterical. Oh yeah, bring him in. > [@](#): > > “I just wrote ‘Sal Esposito’, scratched out the ‘dog,’ and wrote, ‘cat,’” said Anna. In crayon? Oh, please, someone tell me it was in crayon. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/28 "2010-01-13T18:53:51Z")
Just an FYI - many towns in Massachusetts send out a yearly census form, completely separate from the once a decade federal form. I’d suspect she’s referring to that - IIRC, the one from my town does ask if you have any dogs. It’s a one sheet form, and most years all you have to do is sign & return it, unless the people in your household have changed. > [@Projammer](#): > > I thought jury pools everywhere in the US were drawn from voter registration. Is this not the case? Nope. You don’t have to be a registered voter to get called to jury duty. You’ve been watching too much “Monk”. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/29 "2010-01-13T18:58:00Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > …In crayon? Oh, please, someone tell me it was in crayon. The whole thing sounds like a setup for that kind of sketch, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/30 "2010-01-13T19:02:42Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > “Your Honor, will you please order Juror number 7 to not lick his butt in the courtroom?” We call that “playing the cello”. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/31 "2010-01-13T19:28:02Z")
They want to know if you have a dog, but they don’t care if you have a cat? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/32 "2010-01-13T19:33:54Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Okay, so we get 12 cats, and put them in a room with one large square on the floor that says “Guilty” and one large square that says “Innocent,” and whichever square has the most cats sleeping on it is the verdict. Y’all with me? Don’t underestimate the ability of cats to lay down directly in the middle, between the squares. If the prosecuting attorney taunts the cat with a piece of string, would that be jury tampering? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/33 "2010-01-13T19:33:59Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > They want to know if you have a dog, but they don’t care if you have a cat? Often there are local ordinances that control the number of dogs per household but not cats. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/34 "2010-01-13T19:34:54Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > They want to know if you have a dog, but they don’t care if you have a cat? Correct. And I’m not sure why, but somehow that makes sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/35 "2010-01-13T19:37:15Z")
Okay, gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/36 "2010-01-13T19:49:25Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > I was under the impression that all 12 cats have to end up in the same box. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Well, you want a verdict sometime this decade, so I wouldn’t make it that stringent. _shrug_ I’ve got all year. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In crayon? Oh, please, someone tell me it was in crayon. Next you’ll be telling me I need a fish license, and half a license for my half-a-bee. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/37 "2010-01-13T20:07:39Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Just an FYI - many towns in Massachusetts send out a yearly census form, completely separate from the once a decade federal form. I’d suspect she’s referring to that - IIRC, the one from my town does ask if you have any dogs. It’s a one sheet form, and most years all you have to do is sign & return it, unless the people in your household have changed. > > Nope. You don’t have to be a registered voter to get called to jury duty. You’ve been watching too much “Monk”. Don’t be so sure. When I was in college, the minute I registered to vote (in Georgia, where I was in school) I got a damned jury summons. Moved back home, changed my registration, there it was again. Some places just do the jury pool from registered voters. ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/38 "2010-01-13T20:08:20Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > I thought jury pools everywhere in the US were drawn from voter registration. Is this not the case? I think this used to be almost uniformly true, but a lot of jurisdictions have been moving to driver’s license lists in order to expand the jury pool. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/39 "2010-01-13T20:09:56Z")
Judge) So what makes you think that you’re not qualified to serve on a jury Cat) Well your honor, you see…uhm…well, I’m a cat Judge) Motion denied 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777/40 "2010-01-13T20:23:50Z")
Of course, any trial lasting longer than 15 minutes is automatically a mistrial. Half or more of the jury pool will be asleep by then. > [@muldoonthief](#): > > Nope. You don’t have to be a registered voter to get called to jury duty. You’ve been watching too much “Monk”. That was actually based on my experience of all the places I’ve lived. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/east-boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty/524777.md?page=3)