Heh. Sure would be nice to have an instant edit option, huh? I know from another board that vBulletin can be set up so you can edit your post within a preset amount of time (say, a minute), and then the post locks in as is. Wouldn’t that be great for fixing typos, without vitiating the integrity of the SDMB?
And welcome to the “Catperson is a selfish tool” club! I’ve been called several times, and done the sit around and wait for empanelment. Massachusetts used to call jurors for a month’s duty, and had a huge, complex exceptions system which led to jury pools skewed to the retired, unemployed, and so forth. Now it’s one day or one trial and you’re done, usually for a number of years. Hardly anyone gets an exemption unless there’s a clear hardship (and then it’s merely postponed), and even lawyers can find themselves on a jury. I consider it a minuscule price to pay for juries that truly represent the community.
The closest I ever came to actually serving on a jury was in a civil case where, as jury selection was going on, it became clear to me that I’d proofread some of the pretrial discovery depositions in the case. You can bet the lawyers did NOT want me on that jury. Another time, in a criminal case, we the jury pool got marched from our holding area to the courtroom; sat for a while in the back of the room; got marched back downstairs and sat around a while longer. Then the judge came down to thank us, release us, and inform us that the defendant (in a rape case) had decided to plead guilty. I guess he (or his attorney) took a good look at us and decided we looked like a hangin’ jury.
IMHO, there’s a difference between bitching (an American’s duty, indeed, our finest art form) and the all-out hissy fit the OP was throwing. It’s the difference between grumbling about your job (our right as a worker) and storming through the office knocking things over and throwing a shrieking temper tantrum. Jury duty is one of those annoyances we grumble about, but we do anyway, like going to the DMV or waiting in line at the post office.
First, I feel your pain and frustration about being called up while going to college; The only reason I was able to get out of my summons was that I was going to a school 350 miles away (yet still in-state…gotta love Texas).
As far as the rest of your rant, I am not sympathetic at all. This is part of your responsibility as a citizen of this nation, and your state. Sure, it’s great that we all get to vote, that we all have a voice in the running of our city/state/country. But what price do we pay? Yes, there are taxes, but there’s more to it than that. It’s one thing to have a legit excuse to get out of jury duty (school, pregnancy, lack of transport, etc.) but to not do something just because you don’t wanna do it, that’s shameful.
Jury duty is an annoyance, indeed; you have to make work arrangements to be out for a day or more, but you know what? That’s life. Let me guess, you also bitch about the crime rate in your area. If not that, then perhaps something about the corruption in the government or police force? Now, you don’t have an election every year, most probably, but you still have an opportunity to do what needs to be done. Put that thief in jail. Show the cops that they have to do their job right. And for Pete’s sake, stop bitching about something that everyone has to go through at least once in their life!
What a pathetic pitting. The “what’s in it for ME” whine in all its full glory.
I’ve been called for jury duty four times. Two times I had just moved (or was just moving) out of the jurisdiction, including once for a federal grand jury when I was moving a week after it started. A third time I was a single parent supporting two kids with an I-only-got-paid-if-I-worked kind of job, no paid time off, and so I wrote them a letter explaining that it would be a financial hardship and was excused.
The fourth time I went in, sat there for about six hours, never even got near a courtroom, and was sent home, my jury duty completed. Which is probably the most common jury duty experience. I’d LOVE to be called up for jury duty now, however, since I wouldn’t suffer serious financial hardship from it; unfortunately, after working as a court reporter for years, chances are slim I’d ever get picked since court reporters get pretty darned good at assessing witnesses’ credibility and lawyers aren’t real fond of that.
Six weeks? One of the attorneys in our firm is on a grand jury and has to sit one day every single week for six months. He can deal with everything except the fact that he’s not even allowed to take any work in with him to do during the off hours, and certainly nothing useful like a cell phone or laptop computer.
Jury duty is one of the rights and duties of citizenship of the U.S. You should be grateful that you get to participate. Quit bitching and grow up.
Well, getting ready for Day Four. While I am totally unbiased about such things, as a practical matter I hope we get some English-speaking witnesses today. We had to hear each question twice, and so we had six hours (with two breaks and lunch) of testimony from ONE guy on Friday. Arrrgh.
But hey, I have my sandwich, I have my Sunday Times, and I’m learning where the quieter parts of the jury room are. Things could be worse. The case is pretty interesting and it’s fun trying to figure out where the attorneys are headed.
Mehitabel, I feel for you. I spent three and a half weeks on a murder trial in Brooklyn a year and a half ago, and the conditions are less than wonderful. Luckily, however, I lived close enough to the courthouse that I could run home during our lunch break and grab some food, check my email, and catch a bit of “All My Children”.
To the OP - fuck you, you little butt-munching assnugget. My jury duty service was inconvenient and difficult, and I was laid off two weeks before I finished my service, which meant 2 weeks of job-hunting lost. But I spent three weeks with eleven other people deciding the fate of two teenage boys and whether or not to send them to prison for the rest of their fucking lives. They were SEVENTEEN and EIGHTEEN YEARS OLD. And they’re both in prison on life sentences because we sent them there. And I still wonder if we did the right thing sometimes. Myself and one other juror held up the verdict for two days because we weren’t convinced of the guilt of one of them. It took two days of painstakingly combing the evidence to come to the conclusion that he was guilty.
Was it a hardship for me? Fuck yes. Was it a difficult experience? Yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. As heartbreaking as the entire experience was, I felt good knowing that I was participating in our judicial process, and not just bitching about it without action. And people like you don’t deserve the protection of the laws that jurors help to protect.
I hope you don’t get called to serve ever again. You don’t deserve the chance.
In my county they validate your parking. I don’t mind going to jury duty and I wouldn’t mind if they charged for parking, though I would grumble a bit.
I’d think if they’re going to mail you a token check for jury duty they could instead just validate your parking and then save the administrative and postage costs of sending those checks out.
Thanks, avabeth. Two witnesses, both non-English speaking, and the translator mumbles sometimes. Arrrrgh. At least we didn’t get out at five-ten, nope, we got out at ten to five. Woo hoo.
Democracy is great but sometimes it ain’t too thrilling.
Do you honestly think you are going to be called to jury duty year after year? That this is going to be a recurring problem that will plague you on a regular basis? Get a life! Some of us have been registered voters and holders of a driver’s license for DECADES and have never been called. I have gotten a summons exactly once…when we lived on a military base in Georgia, far from my Ohio home. They told me I didn’t have to appear when I called. I have never received another summons, even though I would really like to have the experience.
You seem very anxious about your whole college experience. Many college students would welcome a chance to be excused from class for a day or two. Please don’t catch a cold, or mono, or strep, or break a leg, or have a family member die. The stress you might incur from having to miss a class will kill you.
raises hand I was under the missconception they still went with registered voters–one of the reasons I put it off when I turned 18. Boy was I supprised a year later when I got the summons notice. The case was going to be over a month long. All I had to do was tell judge and attorneys I couldn’t be away from work that long and they didnt argue. Of course I’m sure the blueish green/red hair I was sporting helped alot in their snap decision to let me be on my way…
Good point, kittenblue. I drive AND vote, and have been called for jury duty 5 times in the last 20 years. I actually served twice. Two times the jury was enpaneled before they got to me; the other time I explained I needed to split for another state to care for my sister who was scheduled for major surgery.
All true, and no big sweat.
Being exempted just plain isn’t all that traumatic or tough even when called. It’s just not that big a hairy deal. It’s nothing that remotely justifies the “me first and only, me, me, ME” attitude of the OP.
Lo and behold, when I look at yesterday’s mail, there’s a jury summons!
And I’m thinking, sweet! I get to wave it in the OP’s face and get all high-and-mighty and superior about how I’m not going to be pissy about the inconvenience because I’m accepting my civic duty and then I look at the name on the summons and it isn’t me, it’s a guy who apparently lived in the house years ago for whom we’re still getting mail even though I’ve been at the address since 1996. Poop.
So now I’m kinda torn. Do I just throw it away? It’d serve the guy right for not bothering to update his personal information when he moved if the jury enforcement people get pissed at his nonresponse and come looking for him. Or do I send it back with a note, not at this address? I’d have to open someone else’s mail to do that, which is illegal. And besides, from the stories in this thread, it’s possible, even probable, the folks at the courthouse would assume it’s somebody trying to dodge his responsibility, and would come sniffing around to follow up. I’m not worried about getting in trouble, but it could potentially be a hassle, which isn’t really my responsibility because it’s the guy’s own problem. Of course, the same would happen if I just toss it.
I guess I’m going to have to open it, add a note, and send it back, and hope this doesn’t trigger even a minor investigation I don’t want to have to deal with. I’ll observe my own duties, but cleaning up someone else’s mess is irritating.
(Or maybe I’ll copy a version of the OP into the comments area — “Fuck jury duty, you bitches!” — before I send it back. Heh.)
CatPerson, I want to explain something to you, very carefully. I know this thread is long and involved, and I know you’re very busy studying, so I’ll try to keep it short and monosyllabic.
I don’t want you to think, even for a minute, that doing jury duty buys you the right to vote. You have that right, that privilege. Nobody can take it away from you.
There is a group of Americans who have volutarily given up their First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment rights (and probably a few others as well). They are not entitled to a jury of their peers. Their supervisor has the legal authority to tell them what not to eat, what places they cannot travel to, and how to wear their hair. Because of the hardships of their job, they occasionally do not get to vote. In some cases, they hold regular nine-to-five jobs, but at a moment’s notice, can be asked to take a pay cut from their day to day life and leave their family for a year, missing birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, deaths, weddings, births… the list goes on.
And you know what? When the letter comes in the mail, and they’re not somewhere like Iraq or Afghanistan, the members of the military do their duty and serve on a jury.
So even if you end up weaseling out of jury duty, I want you to do something for me: I want you to go out and vote. Even if you feel like you’re freeloading. I want you to think long and hard before you pull that lever, and figure out exactly how many people have died to make sure that you had that opportunity. And then I want you to think about what a day or two of your time, and a few hundred bucks of your precious college education, is worth alongside that.
Well, as I suggested (apparently not very clearly), based on some of the comments in this thread, a “no thanks, not here” note could conceivably look like a resident trying to dodge his responsibility. I’d prefer to include a longer note with my own name and a contact phone number so they can verify the story, rather than risk having some skeptical official knocking on my door and raising a fuss. And I ain’t about to put my phone number on the outside of an envelope.
My company does work with pharmacy schools and while debugging and testing software I see lots of pharmacy school applications. I don’t see the list of people who were accepted vs rejected, but let’s just say that from the sampling I’ve seen, the pool of applicants doesn’t include many of the sharpest tools in the shed.
Stick the original envelope with a note attached to it into a new envelope, and send it off to the courthouse. Nothing that is not yours is opened, and they can still contact you to verify, if they feel the need to do so…