Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire So how DO you feel about jury duty pal?

Not everyone wants to serve on a jury.

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OH CRAP, I love it, least he's honest.

It got him excused it sounds like. Wimps.

Thinkin I'll go count...........................................

Except my dog's female.

My Daddy told me, "Son, if you ever do anything that gets you put on trial, throw yourself on the mercy of the judge. Otherwise you will be putting your fate in the hands of 12 people who were too stupid to get out of jury duty".

I did serve on a Jury once. The boy on trial had shot and killed a drunk who was coming onto his property and threatening him. I'm not bragging but I believe that because I was on that jury, and foreman (not that that means anything) that the defendant was not convicted of murder. If I had tried harder to get off perhaps a kid who was defending his home and family would be in prison today.

There was another time that I told them that I could not be impartial as a juror. The case was where a guy had gotten drunk and had beat a woman and some other men with a pipe. They asked an honest question "could I be impartial?" (he was using the 'poor me, I was drunk' excuse) I gave them an honest answer, "Hell NO!" I was dismissed.

Jury duty is a pain, no doubt, but a necessary pain if we are going to preserve our freedoms. If the only people left to decide the fate of persons accused of crimes are truly those too stupid to get out of jury duty then Obama is going to smile at that one.

Alan

sounds about like my dad's attitude when he filled out the survey....never been called for jury duty and chances are aslong as i work for the paper its unlikely i will.....they sure as hell wont put me on the a district case cause i prolly know as much as either lawyer and i see most the paper work for the federal stuff out of Great Falls aswell.....every time someone who works here gets called, they drive the couple hundred miles to Great Falls, the lawyers find out yah work for the newspaper and they excuse you.....

A friend of mine likes to say that we have as much access to the justice system as we do to an Olympic Four Seasons Hotel.

The current jury system is a joke and this guy in Montana gets it. I would like to see them pay something like $50 an hour portal to portal, and see how that works for them.

jim

Well, if I ever had to rely on a jury I'd rather it was a group of people like on this site, than a bunch of people who had nothing better to do.

It's brutal for the self-employed, I can tell you that.

If I had a job that paid me my salary while doing jury duty, it might actually be kind of a nice break from the grind.

But, I don't, and the last time I was called in it cost me some real money, at a time I really needed the money.

I just wear my old shooting vest,.....covered with alla' the Right wing "Extremist" Organization's patches.

Never get picked.

That T-Shirt that you sent a pic of, Les,....that'd be a nice compliment to my vest,....No?

GTC

Downright skippy it would.

Absolutely so.

The wife and I have probably come close to setting a record for the number of times we've served Jury Duty. There was always a reason to beg off but none ever convinced the presiding judge or Clerk of Court, so we just served.

These days it's a real inconvenience and sometimes, even a dangerous situation. We live about 40 miles from the courthouse and when the roads are covered with ice, neither one of us feels confident about making that drive.

Other than that, we feel it is a our duty and for the most part, we find the experience to be enlightening and worthwhile.

Everyone should have the experience of sitting on a jury with a number of their "peers". Some pretty astonishing things happen in a jury room and the opinions and beliefs are often very strong and diverse.

JMHO, YMMV

Profession? Engineer
Education? Post Graduate
Background? Military, Conservative, Midwesterner
Pro Death Penalty? Yep.

Somehow they never select me...

Was asked once. Considering the duty was in Michigan and I was living in Texas and active duty - didn't have to go.

If asked I would be real honest about my answers - guessing my full honesty and answering questions the way I know how - I wouldn't ever be picked.

Served in the jury pool only once. Got tossed out of most trials for being an excop. Yeah,they asked that question. Only served on one and sent the b!tch to prison. Loved it!

If I get called again I'll show up with bells on.

O

I've had it several times and it could be boring as crap. I live in a small area and a lot of people know each other. The last time I was called I knew both the lawyers, and was asked the standard questions if this would influence me. I said no. Finally the plaintiffs came in and I went to school with one of them. He said "Hello Marc", I replied "Hello Henry" and judge said you may step down!

Every time I got called for jury duty, I just did what someone told me a few years ago. " Be yourself, answer the questions as you would, not as you think they want to hear...it'll get you thrown out so fast..."
Sure enough, it works every time. Last time the question was any ties to LE? Yep I says, I train K9. " Could you be impartial?" Nope, I have a DISTINCT Law Enforcement Bias..." didn't let the door hit me in the azz on the way out...
Ingwe

My better looking half got a jury duty request packet once. One of the questions was about race. At the bottom of the multiple choices was the box marked "other". She wrote in "human, and that you even ask suggests you're a racist."

Never heard from them again.

Of course, compulsory jury duty involves every bit as much involuntary servitude as subpoenas and conscription.

I don't buy the "But you might be sending an innocent man to prison if you don't serve!" argument. If a thug says to you, "Do X or I'll beat your wife," and you don't do X, and he beats your wife, are you responsible for your wife's beating? Of course not: the thug is. Same-same if the thug is the State, X is jury service, and the beating is imprisonment of an innocent man.