I don’t mind and enjoyed my one time as jury foreman. Huge trial.
Rape, attempted murder, assault, the whole deal. Very interesting and tragic.
We convicted of nearly everything and I read the verdict to the defendant and watched his reaction as he realized a huge chunk of his life was gone with zero chance of parole.
It was a big deal. I should start a thread on it sometimes. This was about 4 1/2 years ago now.
Yes, I left out a t… typing too fast. 
Jury nullification is saying, “we, the jury, believe the defendent is guilty but are returning a not-guilty verdict because we feel the law itself is unjust.”*
That, while an undisputed legal right of a jury, is in my opinion an extreme decision.
*Yes, know they don’t literally say that, but it is the intent.
Yup.
BTW, this has kept me off juries more often than not,
I firmly believe that it’s my duty to serve on a jury. Mostly, I’ve shown up & sat reading until they decided the didn’t need me. Once I devoted a couple of days to a civil case.
Alas, once it appeared I might get on a jury with a half-bright rich boy who’d been offending everybody in the juror pool waiting room. (And that’s a big room in Harris County.) So I admit I was outspoken & articulate with my honest opinion when questioned by the attorneys. “Scritch” went the pen through my name…
Since that time, I became automatically “not wanted” on criminal cases because a member of my immediate family died as the result of a violent crime.
In theory I would LOVE to be on a jury. I was called for jury duty only once in the past, but wasn’t selected. In retrospect, I think my enthusiasm might have made me seem odd/unstable. Also, one of the lawyers in the voir dire was terrible, and finally I got so frustrated with him that I corrected his grammar before answering a question. I think that was the last nail in the coffin for my jury career.
I was recently called again, and used the option to automatically postpone (I think you get once chance to postpone with no questions asked). To arrive at the courthouse on time, I would have to leave the house before daylight, and arranging for childcare would be both a logistical nightmare and a financial hardship.
And IMO, juries should know this.
My exact feeling. Lets say everyone tried their hardest to get out of jury duty. If something happened and you are now on trial, your jury would be made up of those not smart enough to get out of it.
I do understand that for some it would be a real financial hardship. That is not the case for me. However, my chance of being put on a criminal trial is nearly zero. I would much more likely be involved in a civil case.
Well, it is my honestly held belief that it is also my duty to share with other jurors the fact that the judge is lying when he tries to convince you that you do not have the option of jury nullification. The only question I have is whether it’s my duty to let them know that I will be sure to let the jurors know that the judge lied to them about being required to only convict on the merits of the law. If so, then I’m pretty sure that I would not be able to serve. So either it’s my duty to lie about what I believe in order to try and make a difference, or it is my duty to tell the truth and not be allowed to serve.
Of course, this is all academic, since I figure there is more harm to be done in flaring up my OCD than the good that will be done by my serving. The likelihood that I will be the one holdout who will prevent some guy from being declared guilty is pretty small. Most cases are pretty cut and dried, and, even if this isn’t, I know I’d eventually bow to pressure. My worth as a juror is pretty low, even with the knowledge I bring.
And seeing as the one time I was summoned I mentioned my OCD, and thus was not required to attend, it seems the state agrees with me. Besides, I can serve the cause of informing people about jury nullification without ever actually being on a jury.
I’ve only been called once. At the time, I worked for a small business–only 6 employees including the owner. One of my coworkers was called for the same term. My boss called the courthouse and said he couldn’t afford to be without 1/3 of his staff. We were both excused.
I would have willingly served if he hadn’t done that. My wife got called in about a year later. She had to call in once a week the night before and would be told whether she needed to report. She only had to actually go in one day, and was not put on a jury.
If called and chosen for empanelment, I’d serve, though I’d point out during voir dire that the financial harm to me, as a self-employed person, would be significant in a long trial. My employment itself might get me rejected, though; I proofread pretrial discovery transcripts for a living, have for decades, and am tediously familiar with a lot of background stuff the attorneys might not want a juror to know.
Matter of fact, the one time my one-day service went as far as picking a jury (for what would have been a long civil trial), it turned out I’d actually proofread some of the pretrial depositions in the case, and boom, I was out.
The other aspect of my work that might get me rejected is that, over the years, I have come to have strong negative opinions about certain attorneys and expert witnesses whose blatherings I have encountered often enough to form prejudices. Were one of them to be involved in the case, I’d be duty-bound to inform the court that it might be impossible for me to overcome my preformed judgments and bias against that person.
I got called once (in 16 years) and I was stoked to go. Love having days off and I think law is fascinating.
I only had to show up one day out of 5, and then the entire group was sent home. Not until we got a nice speech from the judge, though, and it made me proud to have shown up!
I loved being on jury duty, was only called for one low-level 2nd degree theft trial. I’d do it full time if it were possible.
I’m narcoleptic. I doubt they really want me, but if called to go I would serve.
I’ve been called twice since moving to Maryland, once for grand jury, once for trial jury. Didn’t get selected in the latter case.
Just before we moved up here from Southwest Virginia, I got a jury summons down there. We were packing to move, and hustling to get the house presentable to sell before we moved out. When I explained that to the court clerk, she excused me from duty, thank goodness. But it would take me something on that order to get me to ask to be excused.
The summons in Maryland for the petit jury came just as we were getting ready to travel to Russia to adopt the Firebug. I asked for my jury duty to be postponed, which they were willing to go along with.
I don’t try to get out of it - jury duty is a civic duty, like voting and not spitting on other people’s children and such.
I’ve only been called up twice so far (I’m 36), and the first time I was one of two jurors that got bounced during voir dire. I was somewhat surprised, as I was honest and thought I could be an impartial juror, but perhaps my working at a criminal defense attorney’s office was enough for the prosecution to bounce me. Then again, there were reasons the defense might have chosen to axe me, too, so who knows. It was an odd experience.
The second time, I had to defer it because I was getting married and it was during my honeymoon. I was supposed to get a new summons in January, but haven’t gotten one yet. I was actually surprised at how easy it was to defer. In Chicago, you just call up a number and there’s an automated system that asks you if you want to defer for 3 months or 6 months. I assume you can only use this one time per service period.
ETA: But, no, I haven’t purposely tried to get out of it.
You kidding? It’s a racist system! The last thing it needs is the participation of non-racists with the ability to affect the outcome!
I was just on call for 3 months for jury duty. I could easily get out of it since I am clearly mad and have the medical documentation to back that up, but I dutifully called in every time they asked me to and was never required to show up. If I do get called again and do actually have to present, I will answer their questions honestly and see what happens. It’s the price we pay for having a legal system that, imperfect as it is, at least gives us a chance at justice.
It depends upon my other commitments. If I have something pressing coming up (key deadlines at work, holiday, performances etc), then I’ll seek to be excused from the jury service. Otherwise I’m happy to attend and be selected.
I am called for jury duty in a few weeks. I will show up and will answer any questions asked honestly, but I sincerely hope I do not get chosen for a jury.
This would be a real hardship for my family. Since I’m a stay-at-home mom we would actually have to shell out money (either by hiring a babysitter or having my husband miss work) in order for me to serve. Hopefully this is enough to have me dismissed, but I have heard that this is not considered a reasonable excuse in our jurisdiction.