I mean, that’s it. District Court, so probably nothing too exciting will come of it. I was empaneled on a civil jury back in 2000 and it was less than one day.
BUT- what I really wanted to share is my intense desire to show up for Jury Duty with a t-shirt that says “Ask Me About Jury Nullification”
Every time I’ve been call for jury duty the instructions have always included “No T-shirts” period, in addition language that prohibits political, controversial, and vulgar slogans.
The only time I witnessed this kind of rule in action was at a JP court about five years ago. A fellow prospective juror was wearing a t-shirt under an unbuttoned button-down shirt. I couldn’t see what was printed on the t-shirt, but he was told to either remove the t-shirt entirely or to put it on inside out. He went to the bathroom and returned with the regular shirt buttoned up, so I don’t know which course he took.
As I’m sure you know, any mention of nullification could get you removed from a jury pretty quick. I would prefer to keep it to myself and use nullification (if warranted) in the deliberations if it goes that far
Of course jurisdictions vary and you might have different rules in yours.
What about plain whit T-shirts underneath a regular shirt but showing? Without that, the noise from my chattering teeth this time of year would probably be disrupting.
Judges aren’t interested in prohibiting clothing choices that keep you warm. They’re interested in preventing prospective jurors who want to fuck with the process of picking an impartial jury.
I would be freezing too in that case, but they probably consider it ‘underwear’. Thinking about it, for some reason it’s an ‘undershirt’ to my mind in those circumstances, but if it’s the only shirt I’m wearing it’s a ‘T-shirt’ But it could be any color also.
AIUI, what is allowed is virtually entirely at the discretion of the judge. They don’t want t-shirts because they want the jurors to look presentable, but I doubt a judge would send you home if you showed up in a plain t-shirt on a nice day. He might ask you to wear something a little more presentable if you were coming back for another day.
T-shirts with prints and slogans are another matter entirely, and whether it’s and Eddie the ‘Ed or a Jury Nullification t-shirt, that’s probably going to get you in some degree of hot water.
All the above is just my understanding/assumptions, not meant to be stated with any real conviction.
By the way, I got an email at 5pm last night that my jury duty had been canceled.