Jury Duty

[Arbiter of Wyrms]

I am to report to jury duty tomorrow for the first time ever.

Now, I'm 31 years old, have been a registered voter since I turned 18. I've received summons in the mail before, been never actually been required to appear.

Unlike most people with whom I'm acquainted, and unlike the typical American as portrayed in the media, I have actually been eager to serve as a juror. The court process is fascinating to me. Jury duty is a relatively easily fulfilled civic duty, and, by far, the best reason to be in court.

That said, I'm kind of annoyed. I've got a few weeks holiday left before I go back to school/work, and I have hardly gotten to do any gaming for the last year, I have at least three series of books to read, one book to write, and a steadily worsening addiction to EN World.

On top of all that, the average temperature has been over 100 degrees Farenheit (what's that: 40-45 degrees Celsius?) this week, and promises to continue like this for some time, and I can clearly not wear shorts to court.

Okay, that's it, no questions, and not even really a rant, just a vague musing.

 

[ElvishBard]

Now you know why people hate jury duty, it is because they wait for you to be enjoying your life and have time to be happy to stuff you in a court room so you get frustrated and make your verdict in a hury to save the tax payers money so they can make sure the golden toilet seats stay clean. I must admit, it is one of our better government plans .

 

[Turanil]

<...> so you get frustrated and make your verdict in a hury to save the tax payers money so they can make sure the golden toilet seats stay clean. I must admit, it is one of our better government plans .

Another comment like this one, and I foresee a quick close of this thread... But I have posted on this soon to be closed thread! Yeah!!

 

[Ashrum the Black]

I'd have to say that my one brush with the actual judicial system really soured me on it. I was subpoenaed as a witness for the defense in a case involving one of my players. He was accused of a pretty heinous crime, and his experiences at my game were called into question as having aided him in the commision of said crime. Don't ask, it made no sense to me at the time, still doesn't, but that was the prosecutions angle. So I spent an entire afternoon sitting out in front of the jury room pacing, and listening to the bottom feeders explain to their court appointed attorney’s why they shouldn't pay any child support, and hadn't for years.

I finally get in there and it's not even ten minutes for my testimony, which was me explainning what DnD was to the jury and how we played. The point was to show that I wasn't some deviant and that I had a good job, was articulate, and had no obvious mental issues.

The whole thing was a farce, since they new the guy that did the crime (not my player), but he had fled the country. My player was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Heck the prosecuting attorney was sick the day of the trial, and some poor guy that was just getting back from a leave of absence that morning ended up prosecuting.

From what I hear his second chair tried to convince him to just throw the whole thing out, but he went ahead anyway. If I had been on that jury I would have been ticked that they wasted my time on such an ill conceived bit of prosecution. Of course, now my player is stuck with huge lawyer bills for his defense, his wife left him, and he lost his job and apartment. It’s two years later and he is just now starting to get his life back together.

Not pleasant for any concerned. Placed a real strain on my marriage since my wife was supeoned as well. (she's another player) We all had to give up multiple days of work for something that they had definitive evidence that my player didn't do it. Not to mention the gutting of his life and missing the first year of his daughters life due to his jail time and other various issues cuased by the case.

-Ashrum

 

[jaerdaph]

"I believe in the death penalty for parking violations". You'd be surprised how quickly that little statement gets you promptly dismissed and back to your life.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

Last year was the first time I actually made it onto a jury. I got lucky: from being seated in the jury summons room, to being placed on a panel, to being selected for the jury, to going through the trial, to going in to deliberations, to conviction, all was done in one day, with hours to spare. Someone apparently told the defendant that he had a right to a jury trial, no matter how guilty he was...

 

[Darth K'Trava]

The only time I've ever gotten called for jury duty, it was for the wrong county. So I wrote them and said I lived in "X" county and not "Y" county (where the summons was from). Didn't hear anything back... so oh well...

 

[JamesDJarvis]

I've always enjoyed jury duty myself. I was on one jury where we ended up chuckling at the lawyer for the defense time and time again, it didn't take a genius to figure out how that case was going to unfold.

 

[derelictjay]

I've been called for jury duty three times. The last time, I thought I was a shoo in for the actual jury, being the 6th seat in the jury pool. But because the plaintiff was foreign born and didn't speak english very well, I got off because at times I can almost lose my hearing. So basically I got off by saying I'm going deaf. It didn't help matters when the accusers lawyer asked me a question and I said I didn't here him

 

[EricNoah]

The waiting around part is dull, but getting to see the inside of the judicial system is something a citizen shouldn't miss. With any luck you'll see a relatively quick/easy case and be done with it shortly. Like H.A., above, my experience was done all in one day. I do recall feeling very sorry for the defending attorney, as it was painfully obvious to us that he knew his client was guilty and he had no defense whatsoever.