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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess



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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess
PostMon Jan 08, 2007 4:27 pm 
Mr. Postman delivered a summons today. Jury Duty is next to impossible for a freelance musician as none of my employers would pay me for not working. Then there's that whole business of the $10/day compensation. What's with this system? $10/DAY? And just last month a freelance musician friend of mine was not allowed to be excused and was forced to lose a huge amount of income. I've sent in my request for an exemption but I am stressed to the max about this. vent.gif

“If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.” - Unknown
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gyngve
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 4:31 pm 
More Cowbell wrote:
Mr. Postman delivered a summons today. Jury Duty is next to impossible for a freelance musician as none of my employers would pay me for not working. Then there's that whole business of the $10/day compensation. What's with this system? $10/DAY? And just last month a freelance musician friend of mine was not allowed to be excused and was forced to lose a huge amount of income. I've sent in my request for an exemption but I am stressed to the max about this. vent.gif
if it's for city court, it ain't a big deal. traffic case or other misdemeanor. takes a day or two, max.

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Toonces
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Toonces
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 4:40 pm 
Serving on jury duty is a privilege. Show up on your assigned day and do your part to ensure that the system works. up.gif

If you show fear, a monkey will bully you.
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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess



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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess
PostMon Jan 08, 2007 4:47 pm 
I'm not sure that it's a privilege to lose my income for that day or week or month. I'd be more than happy to serve if I had an employer that paid my wages while I was not working.

“If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.” - Unknown
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Opus
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 4:52 pm 
I had jury duty last year. I was at first dissapointed not to be excused, but it turned out to be really interesting. Overall the case took nine days - it was for robbery, burglary, and assault with a firearm. We ended up finding the guy not guilty for reasonable doubt, and only then found out he was facing almost fifty years! For a long time I've wanted to get into forensic science but the testifying in court part had always thrown me off. This time I got to see a doctor and a fingerprint analyst do their presentations and it wasn't as bad as I thought. Once my current research grant runs out I'm going to get into that field. But yeah, it was majorly inconvenient. This judge let off one person who was self employed because of his potential income loss. Luckily my employer covered mine. I did have to commute down to the Regional Justice Center and buy lunch every day, but that's it. Strangest part was I later found out that same judge was a member of the glacier climbing course I'd signed up for! If the case was just a few months later I'd have known him outside court and been excused from duty. And a different superior court judge from that same building is in my hiking group too. Small world. agree.gif

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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess



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More Cowbell
Warrior Princess
PostMon Jan 08, 2007 5:00 pm 
Now that I'm reading the summons carefully, I see that it's the King County Superior Court in KENT and there's no phoning in options. KENT? Rant Rant Rant.

“If you want to forget all your other troubles, wear too tight shoes.” - Unknown
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Opus
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 5:07 pm 
Yup, that's where I had to go. Bring a book or something - the jury pool is incredibly boring. We had to show up there early in the morning, then go into the pool room. Sadly there's no pool - just a bunch of folding style chairs and a few tables. A judge came in and gave his speech about what we could expect, how the elimination process works, etc. Then we watched a short video about the judicial process. And then the waiting - man that was boring. Every once an awhile a trial would need jurors, so someone would come down and collect a few dozen people and take them off for the elimination process. The rest of use just had to sit there. I ended up sitting there until 4pm, when the trials rest, and had to come back again the next day to repeat the process. Eventually I was selected after sitting there until 2pm the next day. If you're lucky you'll get selected and eliminated pretty quickly, otherwise you sit there and wait. They told me if you're not called and eliminated in the first two days, or there are no jurors needed on that second day, they'll send you home.

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Grizzy
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 5:37 pm 
More Cowbell wrote:
Now that I'm reading the summons carefully, I see that it's the King County Superior Court in KENT and there's no phoning in options. KENT? Rant Rant Rant.
That's where I had to go too.....Got to watch "Sleepless in Seattle" (they only play "safe" movies) Friend of mine said they were there a few months ago and Steve Balmer was there Wi-Fi-ing and sitting the two days he had to.....He was paid for that I would think clown.gif

All the birds have flown up and gone; A lonely cloud floats leisurely by. We never tire of looking at each other - Only the mountain and I. ~Li Po~
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Mtn Dog
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 5:54 pm 
MC: I was selected once in 1996 but was promptly excused because my daughter was about to be born. I then served on a King County court in Bellevue last February. It was just like Opus' experience, I also got picked for a jury. But just as the trial was starting they dismissed us - either opposing counsel settled "out of court" or the plaintiff dropped the charges. I didn't have to serve the third day and the first two days were pretty short. I think we were out at 11:00 or 12:00. If you have engagements later in the day just explain it to the judge. There's a good chance he'll let you go if you might have a schedule conflict. I agree with Toonces that it's an important process so I encourage you to be a meaningful part of it if you can. I also would like to see the judicial branch of this country move toward professional jury panels who are trained and paid to hear evidence and decide on cases as their regular job. Calling in citizens relies too much on emotional factors, personal schedules, and takes too long to educate each of us in forensics just so a trial can proceed and justice can be served.

Footprints on the sands of time will never be made sitting down.
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Opus
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 6:01 pm 
I wonder if it's possible to change your jury duty location to the downtown courthouse, if that's closer for you? The judge was pretty flexible about letting people off. One guy was scheduled for a spinal injection for back pain, and the judge let him go - after asking why he'd prefer an injection into the spine versus serving on his court? clown.gif One woman tried to get off because she was the president of a garden club that was meeting the next day - no dice. MtnDog, that does sound interesting. Does that violate the "jury of one's peers" right though?

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ActionBetty
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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!
PostMon Jan 08, 2007 6:14 pm 
You DONT have a car do you..I was sure you didnt have a running car agree.gif I dont have alot of love for the system for many reasons. They would never let me serve on jury duty after I got done telling them what I thought of the justice system. I would make myself so impossible to deal with..no one would want me back in there presence

"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
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Riverside Laker
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 6:18 pm 
How much freelance music can you play during regular working hours? Don't you work when folks have time to listen, like at night?

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kleet
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 6:18 pm 
ActionBetty wrote:
You DONT have a car do you..I was sure you didnt have a running car agree.gif
Not to fear; they'll gladly pony up bus fare to get a juror there. huh.gif

A fuxk, why do I not give one?
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Newt
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PostMon Jan 08, 2007 6:23 pm 
I loved jury duty. Child rape case. 4+ days.

It's pretty safe to say that if we take all of man kinds accumulated knowledge, we still don't know everything. So, I hope you understand why I don't believe you know everything. But then again, maybe you do.
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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!



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ActionBetty
Im a dirty hippie!
PostMon Jan 08, 2007 6:28 pm 
kleet wrote:
ActionBetty wrote:
You DONT have a car do you..I was sure you didnt have a running car agree.gif
Not to fear; they'll gladly pony up bus fare to get a juror there. huh.gif
Not when you act like a complete ass-hole moron hockeygrin.gif

"If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
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