Jury duty sucks ass...

[connoisseur series500]

I'm also against capital punishment, but that wouldn't prevent me from sitting on a jury, even in a murder trial with the death penalty on the table.

Is that the right thing to do, Alex?

The defendent could very well be guilty in my eyes as a juror, and I would have to vote him as such, but since I am against capital punishment, I would have to recuse myself from the jury. The defendent could be guilty but I'm not sending anyone to a state-sponsored killing.

[Alexander]

Is that the right thing to do, Alex?

I believe it is the right thing to do, and let me tell you why.

I am a citizen of the United States, and I enjoy all of the rights and privileges that entails. I therefore have certain responsibilites as a citizen, and that means that I vote, pay my taxes, and serve as a juror when called. I couldn't call myself a socialist if I didn't believe in doing one's civic duty.

Remember that your responsibility as a citizen isn't to the government, it is to other citizens. You have the right to a speedy and fair trial before a jury of your peers. That means that everyone who is entitled to a trial by jury has a duty to help his fellow citizens by acting as a juror for THEIR trials. "No man is an island, complete unto himself. Every man is a piece of the continent; a part of the maine." Everybody in a court of law has a job to do. It is the juror's job to hear the evidence and decide innocence or guilt. It is the defense attorney's job to defend his client, and try to spare him the needle if it comes to that. And it is the judge's job to interpret and enforce the law. Remember also that if the defendant did, indeed, commit a capital offense, then he has only himself to blame. You are not the one sending him to his doom. He did that himself. And if you are not convinced of his guilt, then you have a duty to say so.

[chris olivarez]

Roosterties I will try to make this brief.The first trial was a drug trial.The attorney was asking jurors about their drug history and since I have one I was not too keen to answer that question.Somehow I managed to avoid the question and get excused.

The second one was someone who was accused of child molesting.For awhile I was hoping to serve on this jury until I realized who the plaintiff was.The plaintiff was a girl who was a "groupie" of the radio station that I worked for and she claimed to have relations with the guys that I worked with.These relations(sexual)existed only in her mind.When I realized this I knew that serving on this jury was out of the question and when I passed this information along it led to a private session with the judge and the attorneys and this i did not enjoy.

The third time I was summoned my employer informed me that I would be docked for every day I served and when I told that to the judge he exused but of course my employer was not their to receive the brunt of the judges displeasure.

If called again I would serve because like Alexander I do believe it is a responsibility of a citizen but hopefully no more weird scenes for me.Hope that answers your questions if not I'll try again.

[JohnS]

I was called once. I was pretty disillusioned by the whole legal process, prosection, defence, police evidence, everything. If I get called again I'll be getting a doctors certificate. Then I was just pissed off, now I can't help needing one.

Edited May 2, 2003 by JohnS