Haha. Last time I was called to jury duty (2023) the instructions said to park in the juror lot. Which had maybe 30 spaces. The jury pool was 160, so of course it was full. They told us to park in the other lot (really a different area of the same lot) which required a permit. They gave us a decal to hang on the rear view mirror, but that didn’t prevent the parking enforcement people from ticketing us.
Some of us went back to the courthouse to talk to the security people and were told to go pound sand. We were lucky we weren’t towed or booted, apparently. Parking tickets were another court’s jurisdiction on the other side of the county. You want to fight if you had to go there.
And two of the three times I’ve made it into the courtroom for jury selection, the court officers were extremely bossy and dismissive. I imagine the reaction would have been if someone said they didn’t want to state their issue with serving in public would not have been very kind.
They came to our office to pick up a coworker of mine who didn’t show up for jury duty because our boss threatened to fire her if she didn’t show up for work during quarter close.
Hey, Canada still has the talesman procedure: if the Court runs out of prospective jurors, the sheriff is sent out to collect some more, often from a food court at a mall.
Also to educate future jurors - it was a slightly different situation but I was called for a grand jury and after dismissing people who were excused altogether, the clerks told any of us who would have an issue with serving specific dates during the month long-term (which started just before Thanksgiving) should come up to the desk. So it wasn’t exactly private even though I couldn’t hear the people ahead of me - but I also didn’t have to say anything more than I have a medical appt on such and such date so details might not be required.
I once worked with a man who told me about a case (IDR if he was on the jury, but he told us about it) from our area involving some people who were living in a dilapidated trailer and had been SAing their kids, and that was the least of the kids’ issues. More than once person took one look at the couple and said simply, “They look guilty as hell to me.”
IIRC, the school had reported the kids because they were unfed and dirty, and the rest was revealed when they were examined by a doctor. The kids also had no idea if anything that had been done to them was right or wrong, only that they didn’t like it. And this was in the 1980s.
I remembered one other gem from a trial I was on, the trial itself was about a domestic abuse case and the Judge was asking if anyone had been the victim of a related violent crime and one younger man raised his hand.
“Yes your honor I had my skateboard stolen once”
Judge looks at him and asks him “Was it at gun point?”
Young man replies back
“No your honor I left it outside one night and when I woke up the next morning it was gone.”
Really wish the judge had said “Did your significant other steal it, if not then it doesn’t matter”
Jeez, would you mind sharing your secret sauce? I get a jury summons every 3 years or so, been in the jury box three times, on a jury twice, and fore-person once. My county has 1.5M people, so I cannot figure out why they keep coming back to me.
I have seen that, too. It has usually been a very talkative person that appears to have a lot of time on their hands, and/or is enamored with courtroom drama they’ve seen on TV (the use of big lawyerly words).
I wasn’t there, and I heard about it third-hand or even fourth-hand, but decades ago MammaHomie told me that a woman had shown up for voir dire accompanied by her husband, dressed in his suit and tie. When it was time to question her her husband stood up and spoke, saying that she couldn’t be on a jury because he doesn’t allow her to speak in public, like the Bible teaches. She was dismissed.
Well, if you want an example of a REALLY good excuse. I was called to serve, and sat in the courtroom for hours while others were questioned. Lots and lots of attempted ‘medical reasons’ for not wanting to serve, most of them denied. When they finally got to me, I told them I was scheduled for an invasive medical test the next morning. The judge looked irritated. Instead of dismissing me he asked me How long was the test going to take? I said, well, less than an hour, I guess. And he said, Fine, then I am transferring your service to XXX date (one week later.)
So, a week later, I end up being questioned by another judge. She looks at some notes and says, I see you were delayed due to a medical test. I assume it is over? Yes, I said. So is there any reason now preventing you from serving? Yes, I said. The test showed I have cancer. I’m scheduled for major abdominal surgery in two days.
This judge was nice enough to wish me well. And said I’d be marked down as having completed my duty, and thus not eligible for being called for five years. So…yay?
(If curious, the surgery was successful, and no recurrences in the past 30 years,)
I love serving, and I’m none of those things. I just find it very important to be able to participate in the civic process - what good is a jury of our peers if no one respects the importance of it? I’ve learned a lot from serving, as well.
I also worked as a hearing examiner in Juvenile Diversion for 7 years.
Thanks! I’ve often thought that I will have no valid complaint when I die, no matter when or how it happens. If I’d been born a century, or even a few decades earlier, I’d have died then, almost certainly in an extremely painful manner. Instead I’ve had 30 extra years of basically pleasant life. Damn lucky.
Same to you, Dr, Deth!
(I used to be able to quote multiple message, but seem to have lost that skill. )
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