Forum Index > Full Moon Saloon > Jury Duty Rant
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
Badger
Member
Member


Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 1172 | TRs | Pics
Location: Alki Beach, Washington
Badger
Member
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 1:49 pm 
BigSteve wrote:
I saw one smartass jerk summarily charged with contempt and hauled away by a sherrif's deputy. It was quite a tense courtroom. I don't know what happened to him.
Irony- he ended up needing a jury to judge his case clown.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?



Joined: 25 Jul 2008
Posts: 7464 | TRs | Pics
Location: The Hermitage
Bedivere
Why Do Witches Burn?
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 7:44 pm 
Tom hit on the solution if your employer doesn't compensate you or it would cause some other hardship: Ignore the summons. Until they start sending them certified mail with signature required on delivery they have no way to prove you ever received it.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
tigermn
Member
Member


Joined: 10 Jul 2007
Posts: 9242 | TRs | Pics
Location: There...
tigermn
Member
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 8:26 pm 
Jury duty rocks. I used to get called every 2 years by some court. Now it's been probably 4 years. Hmm..... I thought I was a good juror. I never got thrown off of a jury once put on there in the probably half a dozen or so trials I was involved with over the years. Anything from federal court to muny misdemeanor court (aka drunk driving/harassment etc).

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
509
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 998 | TRs | Pics
Location: 509
509
Member
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 9:24 pm 
Aussie wrote:
I received a summons about 4 years ago - I'm not a citizen, which is one of their criteria, (obviously they don't check the INS database), and also not entitled to vote in this country.
You only need a drivers license to vote. My dad kept pointing out to the DMV employees that he was NOT a citizen and therefore not entitled to vote. The answer was always...NO PROBLEMO!!! I served on a civil trial in eastern Washington. Do not ever file suit for damages in eastern Washington. The people have no clue about money. Since they live on 10,000 a year they think any amount above that is good money. So he won his case and got 80,000 less than the insurance company was willing to settle for.

Retired Forester....rambling round www.usbackroads.blogspot.com
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Joey
verrry senior member



Joined: 05 Jun 2005
Posts: 2794 | TRs | Pics
Location: Redmond
Joey
verrry senior member
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 10:50 pm 
While I did sit on a jury once (criminal case - we convicted), here is a bit different perspective on jury duty. I have been notified that next month I will be called as a witness in a federal civil jury trial. I’m self-employed so any time I spend at trial is time for which I have no income. Yet even though I’m not affected in a major way by the issue at trial, the case is important to me so I am willing to make the financial sacrifice and appear willingly to give my testimony. It is my hope that the testimony I give, as well as that of the other witnesses, will be heard and carefully considered by a fair, balanced and impartial jury. But how can that happen if folks shirk their duty to sit on a jury? Bottom line: When you are summoned to jury duty, suck it up, report, and serve your time with an open and un-pissed-off mind. Then when you have served your time and the jury is discharged and you are finished chatting up the judge and attorneys and have stepped outside, then please look up at the sky (or in whatever direction your religion prefers) and let your soul open to be measured as to whether you have faithfully and responsibly discharged your duties as an juror who has responsibly measured her/his peers.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Malachai Constant
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jan 2002
Posts: 16088 | TRs | Pics
Location: Back Again Like A Bad Penny
Malachai Constant
Member
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 10:57 pm 
I am not a good juror, I have prejudices. In particular if I think anyone has hurt kids I will go after them regardless of the Courts instructions, and I am very good and skilled at it. huh.gif

"You do not laugh when you look at the mountains, or when you look at the sea." Lafcadio Hearn
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Blue Dome
Now with Retsyn



Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 3144 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cleaning up the dogma.
Blue Dome
Now with Retsyn
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 11:03 pm 
Joey wrote:
Bottom line: When you are summoned to jury duty, suck it up, report, and serve your time with an open and un-pissed-off mind. Then when you have served your time and the jury is discharged and you are finished chatting up the judge and attorneys and have stepped outside, then please look up at the sky (or in whatever direction your religion prefers) and let your soul open to be measured as to whether you have faithfully and responsibly discharged your duties as an juror who has responsibly measured her/his peers.
Yes. Trial by a fair and impartial jury is a cornerstone of our judicial system. A fellow citizen's property rights, liberty, or life will be at stake. Shirking that duty lessens us all.

“I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell.” — Harry S. Truman
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Magellan
Brutally Handsome



Joined: 26 Jul 2006
Posts: 13116 | TRs | Pics
Location: Inexorable descent
Magellan
Brutally Handsome
PostFri Feb 20, 2009 11:52 pm 
I am with Mal. Where is that crossbow thread?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Aussie
Member
Member


Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 350 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
Aussie
Member
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 9:22 am 
Regarding the requirement of being a citizen - the notifications I have received all have criteria listed that one must meet in order to be eligible to serve on a jury, or perhaps more accurately, criteria that exempt you from being on a jury, and one of those is US citizenship. Maybe its for certain courts or types of trials ? Its quite a while since I received the notification so I don't recall the exact wording. Perhaps it has changed since I was last called up...?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
509
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Oct 2007
Posts: 998 | TRs | Pics
Location: 509
509
Member
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 10:09 am 
No Aussie, the law has not changed. But no one pays attention to those laws these days. Not even the government.

Retired Forester....rambling round www.usbackroads.blogspot.com
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
reststep
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Dec 2001
Posts: 4757 | TRs | Pics
reststep
Member
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 12:53 pm 
I think at one time a requirement to serve on a jury in this state was that you had to be a tax payer. Maybe that still is a requirment after all everyone pays sales tax here. I think now they pick jurors from driving license and state ID records without checking if a person is a citizen. Maybe privacy laws prevent them from doing so. As far as I know a non citizen is not eligible to sit on a jury or vote so if a non citizen gets a jury summons it is up to them to notify the court of this.

"The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Oarboar
Comically unhip



Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 1440 | TRs | Pics
Oarboar
Comically unhip
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 3:14 pm 
BigSteve wrote:
As an officer of the court, I feel compelled to suggest that all of you forbear from a public discussion of how to insincerely respond to voir dire questions as a means to avoid getting empaneled on a jury.
Bleep that bleep. David Letterman shows how it's done! EDIT: And here as well What actually happened
BigSteve wrote:
To all of you who have served, or who may in the future serve, on a jury panel, thank you.
You're welcome. Seriously, I've served on two juries. One was a one-day trial of a drunk driver in Kelso. I can remember him sitting in the jury box, but couldn't remember his name to save my life. I was the only male in the six-person jury and was elected foreman; I really couldn't tell you if the two were connected. He opted not to take the breath test, and I remember reminding one of my fellow jurors that he was perfectly within his rights to do so. We still found him guilty. The other trial lasted five weeks in King County. Two parents were suing a drug company on behalf of their daughter, whom they claimed was damaged in utero by a prescription drug the mother took. It was an easy decision to find for the drug company as the parents really didn't document anything to back up their case. Given that dad was an attorney, he really should have known to have backed it up with, say, some diaries. They did claim that she was sensitive to loud sounds, among other things. In response, the defense actually subpoenaed (I presume that's what they did) the family's videotapes, which showed the daughter laughing and smiling normally while dad worked with a power sander on a doorframe. The trial took five weeks and I lost my job; but I was going to lose it anyhow and the company gave me an extra month's pay out of the deal. And I'm glad that the family had their day in court; that's the point of the whole system, after all.

Sadly, right now I'm a poseur. Sigh.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Oarboar
Comically unhip



Joined: 28 Jan 2007
Posts: 1440 | TRs | Pics
Oarboar
Comically unhip
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 6:36 pm 
Heh. Just checked the mailbox a few minutes ago, and it looks like I've been summoned to serve next month. smile.gif Don't worry, BigSteve. I'm looking forward to this, although I do need to research my company's policy on jury duty.

Sadly, right now I'm a poseur. Sigh.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Blue Dome
Now with Retsyn



Joined: 12 Aug 2004
Posts: 3144 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cleaning up the dogma.
Blue Dome
Now with Retsyn
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 6:37 pm 
BigSteve wrote:
To all of you who have served, or who may in the future serve, on a jury panel, thank you.
Admittedly, when I was called, I wasn’t very excited. I was told it would be four days off -- without pay. I went and waited. Without being called, our group were dismissed after 2-3 hours each day. On the third day, we were called in for voir dire, and at that point I found the experience fascinating -- being questioned in a group of 20 potential jurors, by both the defense and the state, with the defendant in the room staring at us. It was great. A DWI case. I volunteered some answers and was asked some questions directly by both sets of counsel. I answered fully and honestly, though in the end I wasn’t chosen for the six-person jury. I lost maybe one day’s pay, but found the experience interesting, worthwhile, and fulfilling. I’d do it again, without pay. up.gif (For showing up for three days -- our group didn't have to show up on the fourth day -- I recall getting a check for about $30.)

“I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell.” — Harry S. Truman
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Toonces
unleashed



Joined: 16 Dec 2005
Posts: 2401 | TRs | Pics
Location: On the pavement, thinking about the government
Toonces
unleashed
PostSat Feb 21, 2009 6:41 pm 
Oarboar wrote:
I'm looking forward to this, although I do need to research my company's policy on jury duty.
At minimum, the relevant state statute explains an employer's obligation to accommodate a juror's time away from work.

If you show fear, a monkey will bully you.
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Full Moon Saloon > Jury Duty Rant
  Happy Birthday speyguy, Bandanabraids!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum