# Fuck JURY DUTY!!!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 27, 2004, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247 "2004-01-27T02:54:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/21 "2004-01-27T06:09:40Z")
> [@brujo](#): > > Do you want a fool proof way to get out of it? Go to Law School, and become a member of the bar. You will never be called to serve on a jury. Incorrect. I was called for jury duty a few years ago and didn’t make it to the box. The jury was seated before they got to my name. A tax attorney did make it on that jury. As for the OP, grow up you little turd. How dare you call the lady with whom you spoke a bitch. Do you really think that she should risk her job so she can let a little snot nose break the law. As for you silly people with your sure fire ways to get off the jury, judges don’t take kindly to people yanking their chain. If they suspect that your trying to pull a fast one, you’re not going to like the result. Haj ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/22 "2004-01-27T06:11:01Z")
You know, I got a three year deferment from jury duty when I was called in my sophmore year. The woman on the phone was as nice as could be about it. Possibly because I made it through the entire conversation with out calling her “bitch.” ---
**Author:** ![Squonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squonk)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/23 "2004-01-27T06:11:11Z")
> [@bump](#): > > companies are required to give you time off for this, they pay you something By “they” I assume you mean the city/county/whoever you’re serving jury duty for. The corporation I work for makes you sign over the check to it. This bothers me even though I do get my regular pay for the day. It just seems petty. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/24 "2004-01-27T06:14:10Z")
> [@CatPerson](#): > > If they make me sit on a case I will act as rude as possible…never listen to the damn case…show up late…wear offensive clothing or whatever. This is called “contempt of court”, and the judge can put you in jail for it, which he almost certainly would do if he thought you were screwing around fr the reasons you suggest. It would serve you quite right, you little snot. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/25 "2004-01-27T06:30:58Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Second, you DID sign up for jury duty when you registered to vote, dumbass. Registering to vote is the exercise of your franchise, and one of the obligations that comes with it is to serve on a jury. I don’t know what state **CatPerson** is in (other than Delusion), but not all states pick jurors based on voter registration. I’m pretty sure Massachusetts uses some other method (tax records, perhaps), since my father, who isn’t registered because he’s not a citizen (and therefore isn’t eligible to serve on a jury) was called for duty a few years back. He just checked the box saying he couldn’t served, wrote “not a U.S. citizen” as the reason, and it was accepted without any hassle. As for the OP, you are a whiny, self-absorbed little shit who desperately needs to be smacked upside the head with a bottle of Wake The Fuck Up. I wholeheartedly encourage you to tell the judge exactly what you’ve told us here. Perhaps he’ll be so impressed with your smug sense of entitlement that he’ll provide you with the material for a whole new Pit rant: “Fuck COMTEMPT OF COURT CHARGES!!!” ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/26 "2004-01-27T06:33:37Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Hijack… > > Would someone, PLEASE explain to me what breathing through one’s mouth has to do with one’s intelligence? I see this insult frequently, and am always wondering at its origins and accuracy. > > PLEASE put me out of my ignorance agony on this one…SOMEONE??? Macroglossia (an enlarged tongue) is a common feature of Down’s syndrome (a very common cause of mental retardation), and so many (but by no means all) people with Down’s syndrome often walk around with their mouths open and their tongue protruding out slightly, and breathe through their mouth as well as their nose. That’s probably why the phrase “mouth-breather” came to be used as a purgorative term, and associated with mental retardation; it’s a short-hand reference to the physical appearance of Down’s syndrome patients. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/27 "2004-01-27T06:34:27Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > Hijack… > > Would someone, PLEASE explain to me what breathing through one’s mouth has to do with one’s intelligence? I see this insult frequently, and am always wondering at its origins and accuracy. > > PLEASE put me out of my ignorance agony on this one…SOMEONE??? One of the hallmarks of [Down](http://health.yahoo.com/health/encyclopedia/000997/0.html) syndrome is a protruding tongue, so that the patient frequently finds it easier to open his mouth a bit. > [@](#): > > Children with Down syndrome have a widely recognized characteristic appearance. The head may be smaller than normal (microcephaly) and abnormally shaped. Prominent facial features include a flattened nose, protruding tongue, and upward slanting eyes. The inner corner of the eyes may have a rounded fold of skin (epicanthal fold) rather than coming to a point. The hands are short and broad with short fingers and often have a single crease in the palm. Retardation of normal growth and development is typical and most affected children never reach average adult height. Basically, calling someone a mouthbreather is implying that he/she is mentally retarded. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/28 "2004-01-27T06:41:26Z")
> [@CatPerson](#): > > Iknew I shouldn’t have registered to vote last year, but it was tempting because I wanted to vote for Arnold. I’m never voting again…so will they stop sending me jury notices…or am I stuck in the system for life since i registered to vote? For someone who made it to college, you are one whiney, dumbass. I’m surprised you haven’t figured out how to search the California jury requirements, or you would know that registering to vote is not the only way to receive a jury summons. Good luck being a smartass to the judge attempting to get out of serving. Maybe that contempt of court charge might cool your heels, as you sit in a cell with those very individuals you would have decided their guilt or innocence. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/29 "2004-01-27T06:47:33Z")
> [@Lynn Bodoni](#): > > One of the hallmarks of [Down](http://health.yahoo.com/health/encyclopedia/000997/0.html) syndrome is a protruding tongue, so that the patient frequently finds it easier to open his mouth a bit. > > Basically, calling someone a mouthbreather is implying that he/she is mentally retarded. I don’t know about that. I use it as synonymous with “slack-jawed.” You know, so dumb they just stand around with their mouths open. Like Cletus, the Slack-Jawed (but not retarded!) Yokel. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/30 "2004-01-27T06:49:32Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > You know, I got a three year deferment from jury duty when I was called in my sophmore year. The woman on the phone was as nice as could be about it. Possibly because I made it through the entire conversation with out calling her “bitch.” In Texas, all I’ve ever had to do is check “Full time student” and mail the paper back to the courthouse. I’ve been called twice (during school - oh, and I’m registered to vote in my home county, not my college county, so even going the first day would require missing at least two days of school) and sent back the little form twice. No hassle, no fuss. I like to imagine that they’re just waiting for me to graduate so they can zing me again. 😃 Sometimes it helps to find the humor in things you can’t avoid. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/31 "2004-01-27T06:54:41Z")
I have sat on a jury before and it was my good fortune to be picked on the first day on a case that took less than a day to decide. In at nine, out at five, and my job was more than forgiving. I have also come to realize that it is futile to argue with the woman on the phone about your qualifications or your schedule or any other petty quibbling matter you claim makes it absolutely impossible for you to uphold your fucking civic responsibility. Write a letter, show up at the courthouse, and explain your position. Failing that, ask your professors how they’d feel about you skipping jury duty to take a few classes: do they think it’s a good idea for young people to participate in the process of government? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/32 "2004-01-27T07:00:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Iknew I shouldn’t have registered to vote last year, but it was tempting because I wanted to vote for Arnold. You wanted to vote for the Groper? Then I have no sympathy for you. I’d have very little sympathy anyway, because you’re so damned whiny. Because of medical problems, I’m not allowed to serve on a jury. I guess they’re afraid that I’ll pass out or something. I’m not going to say just what, specifically, disqualifies me…but I wouldn’t mind serving. I think that we all have a responsibility to try to improve our communities, and jury duty is one way of doing that. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineMorris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8797f3/32.png) [@CatherineMorris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineMorris)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/33 "2004-01-27T07:08:18Z")
Here’s the [California state website’s FAQ about jury duty](http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/jury/faq/faq02.htm). I hope the link is correct; if not, the FAQ states: > [@](#): > > Q: What happens to my job or school attendance record? > A: Remember that you have a one-time ability to postpone jury service to a more convenient time. Since each court may have different instructions, read your summons carefully or contact your local jury office to find out the right way to request a postponement. The California Labor Code (§ 230) makes it unlawful for any employer to fire or harass an employee who is summoned to court to serve as a juror. If you are harassed or fired, contact your local jury office or the judge assigned to your trial. The law also protects students and teachers. Most people I know who have served did so for less than a week, so it wasn’t that much of a hardship… although, you’re not a resident of [San Mateo County](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/01/25/PETERSON.TMP), are you? ---
**Author:** ![Lok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e8c25b/32.png) [@Lok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lok)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/34 "2004-01-27T07:08:22Z")
> [@Q.E.D.](#): > > This is called “contempt of court”, and the judge can put you in jail for it, which he almost certainly would do if he thought you were screwing around fr the reasons you suggest. It would serve you quite right, you little snot. I was hoping no one would mention this. I was waiting to hear him complain about going to jail for contempt of court. To the several people that have said no one enjoys or wants to do jury duty, you know at least one person that does. I have served on a criminal jury and on a grand jury and would like to do both again. Because it is a small way that I can help make the system work as an ordinary citizen. Same reason I vote every chance I get, and try to get my family to do the same. ---
**Author:** ![Nightime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Nightime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightime)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/35 "2004-01-27T07:27:14Z")
I was called for jury duty a few years ago, despite being in school. The trial ended up taking three weeks. And at the end, despite my pleas, my fellow jurors were too stupid to follow the judge’s orders, resulting in what I assume was a mistrial (in any case, there was later another trial for the same crime). So it all ended up pointless, which actually didn’t bother me by then because I was not overly pleased with the conclusions of the other jurors. I was later visited by a representative of the defendant (is that even legal for them to do that?), asking for advice in the new trial and a review of their tactics in the original trial, which was quite fun since I was and am positive of their guilt. At least I learned something out of the whole thing - I learned how untrustworthy and dependant on stupid people the legal system is. I also learned that the system really needs intelligent, rational people to serve on juries, and thus if you are intelligent and rational it would take a lot to outweigh the responsibility to serve on a jury. ---
**Author:** ![Spiny\_Norman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Spiny\_Norman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiny_Norman)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/36 "2004-01-27T08:25:32Z")
> [@CatPerson](#): > > I knew I shouldn’t have registered to vote last year, but it was tempting because I wanted to vote for Arnold. I’m never voting again…so will they stop sending me jury notices…or am I stuck in the system for life since i registered to vote? I shouldn’t feel glee in telling you this, but I find the feeling impossible to suppress: In California, the state I have the apparent misfortune of sharing with you, jury summons are sent out based on DMV info. So I’d suggest you stop driving. But by all means, please feel free to stop voting as well. > [@](#): > > So tell me your ideas of getting out of jury duty. Move to a country without trial by jury - heck, why not move to one one without democracy as well, seeing as both seems to be too much work for you to bother with. ---
**Author:** ![sajwalke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/edb3f5/32.png) [@sajwalke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sajwalke)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/37 "2004-01-27T12:29:47Z")
Yes, the OP was very impolite and is blowing things out of proportion, but this is the pit, so it is at least partially excuseable. As for whether he is justified in complaining about this I don’t know. It seems he didn’t know that you could be excused later on due to educational commitments, which is fair enough. This is obviously his first time on jury duty, and we’re not all experts on the subject. So the OP probably thought that he would HAVE to become a juror, possibly for several weeks, which would certainly be annoying. Being a student myself I know that missing several weeks of uni would fuck up my grades for the semester, what with missing tests and homework, and having to catch up to everyone else, and I also know that if something outside my control caused that to happen I’d be very annoyed. I’m going into a very compeditive industry and I need good grades. So in conclusion it appears that this is pitting whatever organisation decided that being a full time student is not a valid excuse for getting out of jury duty, given that the OP has limited knowledge of the system. So to all those “quit whining” types, perhaps you should give him the benefit of the doubt and cut him a bit of slack. Just my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/38 "2004-01-27T13:29:11Z")
I’m pleased to see the unanimity of opinion condeming the OP as idiotic and lacking in civic responsibility. I would welcome the chance to serve on a jury; I think it would be a facinating experience. However, I am a former employee of an intelligence service (civilian analyst, not a spook!), hold a master’s in mathematics, am politically conservative, and I’m married to a cop. No defense attorney is EVER going to let me within a million miles of his jury! ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/39 "2004-01-27T13:29:20Z")
College student checking in. Some of my professors give extra credit for jury duty. It is our obligation as citizens of the United States, after all. You might want to ask them if they’ll do that. And for fuck’s sakes, GROW UP! Robin ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2004, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247/40 "2004-01-27T13:38:05Z")
The fact that the clerk was willing to postpone the jury summons until summer removes any cause for griping. Citizenship carries a certain obligation and in this case a slight inconvenience looms. Deal with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fuck-jury-duty/226247.md?page=3)