Quick Question About Jury Duty

[Townhallsavoy]

I've been summoned for jury duty the first two weeks of August.  I noticed that being a full time teacher can help me postpone my time to serve, but I have to make a request.

Is it common for a request to excuse me from my summoning to go through? 

We start back on August 8th, and I have a lot of work to do the week before.  It will be a serious pain in the ass (like semester-long pain in the ass) if I have to be in a court room on those dates.

[JR4AU]

I've been summoned for jury duty the first two weeks of August.  I noticed that being a full time teacher can help me postpone my time to serve, but I have to make a request.

Is it common for a request to excuse me from my summoning to go through? 

We start back on August 8th, and I have a lot of work to do the week before.  It will be a serious pain in the ass (like semester-long pain in the ass) if I have to be in a court room on those dates.

Unless they have a cases where they need a lot to strike from...you can usualy get deferred.

[Saniflush]

Just tell those motherfuckers that you can't wait to serve cause you can spot guilty people really quickly.

[GH2001]

Like Jr said, a deferral is pretty easy to get. Multiple times even, depending on the court.

[Tiger Wench]

Tell them you are breastfeeding and need a quiet room with an easily acessible electrical outlet for your pump every two hours, plus a refrigerator and ice chest.

Works like a charm.

[Kaos]

Unless they have a cases where they need a lot to strike from...you can usualy get deferred.

Thus proving my point that most juries are populated by idiots who have nothing better to do -- not even mow the grass -- and aren't savvy enough to get out of it.

[GarMan]

Thus proving my point that most juries are populated by idiots who have nothing better to do -- not even mow the grass -- and aren't savvy enough to get out of it.

You actually nailed it here.  You are 100% correct.  Obviously, this doesn't speak for all of them, but it does represent the majority. 

[War Eagle!!!]

You actually nailed it here.  You are 100% correct.  Obviously, this doesn't speak for all of them, but it does represent the majority. 

Which, in my mind, makes everyone bitching about a jury worthless to me. If you aren't willing to serve on jury duty. Stop bitching about the folks that are on it.

[JR4AU]

Thus proving my point that most juries are populated by idiots who have nothing better to do -- not even mow the grass -- and aren't savvy enough to get out of it.

No, most do their civic duty anyway. 

[Kaos]

No, most do their civic duty anyway.

Say what?

[GarMan]

Which, in my mind, makes everyone bitching about a jury worthless to me. If you aren't willing to serve on jury duty. Stop bitching about the folks that are on it. 

I agree with you only to an extent.  I'm completely willing to serve, and I've never made an excuse to get out of jury duty.  I've only been called twice, and I've never been selected.  Apparently, I don't watch enough Oprah or The View.  They also do not give you enough notice to make arrangements to serve without impacting your employment or family obligations.  I've been astonished by the mix of folks called for jury duty.  You'll have an executive or a small business owner sitting next to an unemployed street vagrant.  Somehow, these people are peers?  The system needs a little tweaking... 

[CCTAU]

I served when called. And was proud to do so. I would be damned glad to have someone like me on a jury.

But we get too many bleeding hearts that are looking for someone to pay, or to pay out. Make the prosecutor prove their case. If they cannot, then do the right thing and vote not guilty.


Call and ask if you can serve two weeks early. They may have a heart attack, but they may just allow it.

[GarMan]

No, most do their civic duty anyway.

Does that just mean they've shown up on time to make their roll call, or are you actually suggesting that most serve?  That reminds me of the last time that I was called.  This guy showed up wearing KKK garb.  They excused him for obvious reasons, but he still made his roll call! 

[Snaggletiger]

Last jury term here, there were several of the prospective jurors passing out Watchtower pamphlets to people in the Courthouse.  None of them served.  None of them were Jehovah's Witlesses.

[GH2001]

No, most do their civic duty anyway.

Which is what I chose to do 3 weeks ago, instead of trying to weasel out. All of the folks on my jury had jobs and were pretty intelligent.

[Saniflush]

I have been struck every time I have been called.  They're racist.

[Tiger Six]

The one time I was called, I got to serve on a grand jury.  That was actually pretty interesting, except the DA was a dumbass who talked down to us most of the time.  The Assistant DA presented most of the cases and was competant.  She ended up being appointed a judge a few weeks later. 

I say that you ask to have it deferred.  Not struck, but deferred. 

[Snaggletiger]

I'm certainly no expert on juries, as was evident from my last trial, but I think that most who wind up serving are there because they want to be.  Sure, they've been summoned but it's all too easy to get out of it.  I've served twice and both times, the attorneys on both sides wanted me on there.  Both were criminal cases and both sides knew that as an attorney, I should be better prepared to take emotion out of it and decide:

A. Did the prosecution prove the elements of the crime, or..

B. Did the defense prove otherwise or that there's reasonable doubt that they met the elements.

JR can tell you far better than I can because criminal defense is something I only did for a short time.  Criminal prosecution pretty much boils down to intent and proving the elements of the crime as defined in the Code.  Before and during voir dire, you have to do your due dilligence to try and get jurors who you perceive to have the ability to look at things and make their decisions based upon the evidence and the jury instructions given.  Not based on emotion.  Except in the case of the Casey Anthony trial, where the prosecution I'm sure knew full well that they couldn't meet their burden of proof but wanted jurors to look at the beautiful little girl in the picture and in turn, hate her mom.     

[Vandy Vol]

Somehow, these people are peers?  The system needs a little tweaking...

They're peers in the sense that they are both citizens of the local community.  Essentially, when they tell a defendant that he/she is being judged by a jury of their peers, they just mean that they're being judged by citizens in the area.  The purpose of getting potential jury members in for selection is not to get people who are similarly situated, but rather people who are a representative "cross-section" of the local community.

[Tiger Six]

I'm certainly no expert on juries, as was evident from my last trial,

You've actually seen the inside of a court room?