Jury Duty

[+ purplekow]

I just received a notification that I am being called to virtual jury duty.  I do not have to attend but I have to be available by phone to go in to be questioned for a panel should my name be selected.  One trip in and no sitting there for a week.   Anyone else been selected for this?

[Kippy]

There is no bigger pain in the ass than jury duty.  I've worked verbal magic to get out of selection in the past and have thanked COVID for the one benefit that it seems to have-- eliminated jury call up in the past year in my life.  Time will tell...

[DERFYWONE]

This is why i do not vote, to avoid jury duty.

[bostonman]

I was on a jury once - it turned out to be a great experience, actually. The trial lasted 2 days, the case was interesting, and I feel like we made the right decision. (We ruled in favor of the plaintiff, but not for the total amount of damages he sued for, as we felt he overreached.) 

However, the next time I was called for jury duty was just an awful day. I was called for a trial in the morning, but as they told us the trial would probably last through the week and I had valid conflicts, they let me go. I went back to the jury pool, assuming that might be it for the day, but then was called for a 2nd case. We weren't given a lunch break, and this voir dire dragged on...and the courtroom was FREEZING. (This was the end of July.) Then, they found their jury before I had been called up, so in essence I sat there all that time for nothing. I know...it happens. But that didn't make things any better, lol. 

That said, if I did have another chance to actually be on a jury, I'd do it. 

[+ bashful]

1 hour ago, DERFYWONE said:

This is why i do not vote, to avoid jury duty.

Doesn’t get you out of jury duty here (either Cook county, or all of Illinois, don’t know for sure).  They also use driver’s licenses, and state IDs.

We have one day, or one trial.  My friend got called, and it was to sit on a Grand Jury for a month at 26th and California (Chicago people will know about that).  He couldn’t believe the crimes that happen.

Another friend was on a murder trial.  They found him guilty.

Last time I was called, it was 26th and Cal. too.  My number got called.  They herded us to the hallway just outside the court room.  We had to wait almost a half hour.  When they finally opened the door for us to enter, there was bullet proof glass separating the judge, attorneys, and jury seats from the rest of the court room where we waited once we entered. Then they had us enter pass the glass, and the judge thanked us, but the case had settled, and we were released.  Whew!

Edited May 25, 2021 by bashful

[MscleLovr]

Like @bostonman I did jury duty once and I enjoyed it.
 

It was for a week and there were several cases. I enjoyed it as the justice system interests me, and the judge invited us to ask questions if anything seemed unclear. Also I met 2 nice people on the jury who turned out to live near me

[+ robear]

I've been called for both state and federal juries, and have served both as a trial juror and state grand juror.  Grand jury was easier by far.  In NYS you're committed to serve 2 whole weeks, but you have a whole parade of cases every day and decisions are a simple up/down vote on indictment. 

 

[+ Lucky]

If intelligent people avoid jury duty, who is left to decide some very important cases?

[wsc]

I have been called for jury duty three times, but have never had to serve. One time, I sought and got a medical exemption, and the other two times all the pending trials were cancelled because plea deals were reached between the opposing sides before trial.

I would probably regret it it, but there's something about the experience of participating this way in the legal process that I find enticing, and I also see it as an exercise in civic responsibility. Did some research to find that you cannot volunteer for jury duty, which seems reasonable. So it's left to the luck of the draw, and at my age, I think I get an easy pass if I want one, which I would if you can't request a bathroom break from the jury box.

[+ sync]

When I was living in NYC, I served jury duty many times.  It was grand jury for a month each time, 1/2 day each day of the month.  I was okay with it because the month-long term was pretty much firm, although we were told there was always the possibility of circumstances extending grand jury terms for a much longer period of time.  Thankfully, that never happened to me.

[gallahadesquire]

Called for Duty twice in 30 years at the same address.

First time, I was actually seated in the jury then dismissed. A colleague of mine at work was not only seated, but was foreman. 
Second time, I went in and was dismissed after a couple of hours. 
A friend was on a grand jury, once weekly for two years. They were looking at the Big Dig in Boston. She said it was so convoluted that, in two years, they passed no indictments.

[+ Charlie]

11 hours ago, purplekow said:

I just received a notification that I am being called to virtual jury duty.  I do not have to attend but I have to be available by phone to go in to be questioned for a panel should my name be selected.  One trip in and no sitting there for a week.   Anyone else been selected for this?

This sounds less convenient than being called to come in for a specified time period; in that situation, at least you can plan ahead to be there.

[EZEtoGRU]

2 hours ago, wsc said:

I have been called for jury duty three times, but have never had to serve. One time, I sought and got a medical exemption, and the other two times all the pending trials were cancelled because plea deals were reached between the opposing sides before trial.

Similar for me.  I've been called for jury duty many (6-7) times in multiple states (Michigan, Florida, Texas) but have never been selected for a jury.  Just lots of sitting around.  I don't mind it as I see it as my civic duty.

[mike carey]

I've never been called for jury duty, in part because during my time in the Defence Force I was exempt. Not sure how good a juror I'd be! We have no equivalent to US grand juries, only trial juries.

[EZEtoGRU]

13 hours ago, Kippy said:

There is no bigger pain in the ass than jury duty.  I've worked verbal magic to get out of selection in the past and have thanked COVID for the one benefit that it seems to have-- eliminated jury call up in the past year in my life.  Time will tell...

As usual, you're such a shining example of how to serve your city/state/country 🙄. 

*Admin Note: Attack the issue not the person. 

[+ RJD]

I’ve been called several times and sat through multiple voire dire sessions, but never been chosen.  My guess is because I have family in LE.  
 

On one occasion,  I was called in as part of a jury pool for a first-degree murder case.  We waited in the deliberation room and each person called in individually.  We were told the only people in the courtroom would be the judge, bailiff, court reporter, prosecutor, defense attorney, and the defendant.  They were there, along with the defendant’s whole family in the gallery staring daggers at each juror during the session.  It was intimidating, and civic duty be damned, I supplied answers I knew would get me dismissed.  I wanted no part of that trial.  

[Guest]

13 hours ago, DERFYWONE said:

This is why i do not vote, to avoid jury duty.

It's easy enough to talk your way out of serving if you're called. Is voting that much trouble? You can do it by mail. 

[rvwnsd]

11 hours ago, bashful said:

Doesn’t get you out of jury duty here (either Cook county, or all of Illinois, don’t know for sure).  They also use driver’s licenses, and state IDs.

We have one day, or one trial.  My friend got called, and it was to sit on a Grand Jury for a month at 26th and California (Chicago people will know about that).  He couldn’t believe the crimes that happen.

Another friend was on a murder trial.  They found him guilty.

Last time I was called, it was 26th and Cal. too.  My number got called.  They herded us to the hallway just outside the court room.  We had to wait almost a half hour.  When they finally opened the door for us to enter, there was bullet proof glass separating the judge, attorneys, and jury seats from the rest of the court room where we waited once we entered. Then they had us enter pass the glass, and the judge thanked us, but the case had settled, and we were released.  Whew!

Every time my mother was called for jury duty it was at 26th and California. She served on a number of cases, including a high-profile (at the time) sexual assault case in which one of the arresting officers started crying as he described what had been done to the victim.

I also was called to 26th and Cal, was empaneled, but always dismissed. One was a bank fraud case that was tried a few months after I testified in a different case (client defrauded my employer),  another was a stalking case (I had been stalked by a different customer), and the other was an assault case where the defense attorney looked at me and said "nope." 

Here in AZ I was a called once but dismissed.

 

[marylander1940]

14 hours ago, Kippy said:

There is no bigger pain in the ass than jury duty.  I've worked verbal magic to get out of selection in the past and have thanked COVID for the one benefit that it seems to have-- eliminated jury call up in the past year in my life.  Time will tell...

 I hope you're never on a Jury... Chauvin might still be free if it was for you...

Edited May 25, 2021 by marylander1940

[marylander1940]

35 minutes ago, Unicorn said:

It's easy enough to talk your way out of serving if you're called. Is voting that much trouble? You can do it by mail. 

No, you must go, stand for hours and God forbid someone gives you a bottle of water... Jail to the 2 of you for such behavior! (end sarcasm)

[Luv2play]

I always understood if you tried to talk your way out of jury duty, it was by way of giving pretty unflattering comments about yourself.

[Luv2play]

I’ve never been called myself but I have a law degree and always assumed I wouldn’t qualify. If called I would love to serve.

[Luv2play]

I just checked the province of Ontario criteria for serving on juries and as a student-of-law, I would be disqualified. But that was so many years ago.

[bostonman]

51 minutes ago, Luv2play said:

I always understood if you tried to talk your way out of jury duty, it was by way of giving pretty unflattering comments about yourself.

I've only "talked my way out" twice - once because of an appointment later in the week for important dental surgery (the judge didn't even think twice about that one lol), and once because I did think I'd be biased given the nature of the case. neither time did I feel I needed to be "unflattering" toward myself lol, nor was I anything less than honest. I'd like to think that they can often tell when you're just trying to make excuses. 

[Islesguy]

I got called twice and was picked one of those times. I really enjoyed the experience. Trial took a couple of weeks due to a snowstorm closing the court for a few days and one juror holding out and the judge refusing to declare a hung jury.

I would love be to called for a grand jury especially in federal court.