If I was feeling cranky in Jury duty I would say I could not possibly answer yes to a question like that. I would probably go so far as to say I would be disgusted with anybody who would override their conscience to do what they felt was not right. I might even bring Godwin’s law down upon myself and say that people letting a figure of authority override their conscience is what allowed the Holocaust to happen.
If I was not feeling cranky I might lie with the understanding that the judge is not likely to issue instructions I will have a moral problem with. But seriously unless the scope of instructions is whittled down some how can anyone answer yes to that.
By my estimation, I have been called for jury duty in Summit County (Akron) Ohio, 13 times. I must be on the Summit County Jury suckers list. However, I have only been selected for a jury twice.
The rest of the time, something happened, I have been pre-emptory challenged off, knew the defense attorney, read too much in the newspaper, had a defendant not show up (and let me tell you, that bail bondsman was like 6 foot 8 and had arms about as big around as my head, i wouldn’t want him coming after me), had a few where the guy plea bargined at the last second, one where they called about 200 potential jurors and i didn’t even make it into the courtroom, another where I made it into the courtroom but a jury was seated, one where the whole jury pool was mysteriously let go in the middle of voire dire (sp? as if the rest of this were correctly spelled) and one where the whole jury pool was not so mysteriously let go because the defense attorney mentioned ADHD and the Judge was not happy.
Most trials last a day or two and in my experience most people don’t really try and get out of them all that hard. And the ones that do try, find a judge who has heart it all before.
However, if i do called again, i have a real good excuse now, if i sit for more than a hour or so, my left foot starts to hurt (it starts to swell, actually) and I have to get up every hour or so to stretch it out for 30 seconds or so, then I’m fine for another hour or so (I can stand, for hours and hours, but sitting makes it hurt) and I can get a doctors excuse that says so. If i ever get called again, I’ll tell you if it works.
Easiest way?
Never, ever vote. Never register to vote.
I am 40 years old, served in the military for 6 years, have a driver’s license, don’t have a felony record, and I know I will never serve on a jury. I really care less about my congressional and senatorial representatives, than I care about serving on a jury (or, I should say not serving on a jury).
Since all candidates are the same in the end, what is the point of voting anyway?
I don’t try to get out of it. But it’s getting a bit old.
I just got my yearly (seems like it) jury summons. I was chosen and sat on the jury for the last two.
On the last one I was elected foreman.
Anyway, we where told to elect someone to ‘lead’ the discussions. I was with a bunch of folks that couldn’t figure out how to do this. No one volunteered for it. I suggested we draw straws. Since there was a coffee pot in the room, I thought there would be those little coffee stirrers.
I was wrong.
But, since I was the only one that was trying to get things done, I was ‘elected’ as the foreman. It was pretty pathetic, but I wanted to get things moving.
Fine.
I am sometimes involved in the hiring/interview process at work. I don’t like that because I HATE making decisions that can so greatly affect another persons life.
I’ll have to keep that in mind. It would be totally true, too – my opinion of psychiatry is that it is at best only quasi-scientific, based mostly on subjective judgments of what constitutes “normal” behavior.
In Ohio at least, they can use all kinds of records, not just voting records, to get prospective jurors. We were told last time I was called in that they do that because defense lawyers were trying to claim that if you just use one method, you don’t get a represenative pool, and at least in Summit County, for a long time there downward trend in registered voters.
Look dudes- there is nothing you can think of that the judge hasn’t seen a dozen-100 times, and trust me he won’t think it’s funny.
Tell the truth: “I am self-employed and can’t afford a long jury session” and you have a reasonable chance of getting off. Don’t lie or come up with something “cute”.
The small company I worked for at the time wanted to give me a letter from the CEO
to get excused. I looked at it and was dumbfounded at its arrogance. It was a long time ago and I can’t recall one word of it, but I was appalled. “Have you used this before?” I asked. “Oh yeah,” the man replied, “it didn’t work, but it’s worth a shot, don’t you think?”
I didn’t, and was allowed to try my own approach.
I told the judge that I was new to the company and might lose my job if I had to serve. I then mentioned the letter and described its content to show the kind of assholes we were dealing with. I told him sincerely how I would be honored to serve and how I felt it would be my duty to do so, but that my job would be at risk. Every word was true. He saw it and let me off.
If I were called now, I’d be willing to serve. It’s shameful to always leave it up to the other guy.