Jury Duty SUCKS!

[Starbucks Anarchist]

Gotta rant here. I was summoned for jury duty today, so I went early in the morning, even though I got off work the previous night at midnight (night shift).

The wait for us to be called wasn't so bad, but unfortunately, I was called later. The judge said the case (a civil case about rich fucks I could care less about) was going to feature 17 DAYS of testimony. Even Alan Fucking Greenspan can't talk about money for 17 days straight!

Then the judge heard various medical/financial excuses. A majority of the prospective jurors fell into either category, including me. I told the judge that my workplace only pays for 10 days of jury duty, so going past that would basically screw me out of the rent for December, not to mention the fact that my workplace is understaffed and drowning in work.

Eventually, the judge separates us into three groups: those who are rescheduled for a more convenient date, those who are assigned to a different and shorter trial, and those who are now prospective jury members for this trial.

If you guessed that I was in the third group (despite my severe financial hardship), you are correct, sir! I called my boss and told her what happened, and that I was going to compose a nice note to the judge reiterating my incapability to serve on this trial and give it to him tomorrow.

Also, the security guard that I'm subsidizing who yelled at me when I went back through the metal detector because I assumed he meant "turn back around" when he said "turn around" would have gotten a swift punch to the throat if he wasn't armed, and if I had the speed of Carl Lewis, of course.

Anyway, that's my rant. Thanks for listening.

[hfojvt]

1. seventeen days?

Ouch.
I got called for jury duty, but it got cancelled. At the time I was called, there was a "big" case here involving a transgendered couple who had applied for a marriage license. They decided not to give her a jury trial because it would be too expensive for a mere misdemeanor offense. Then the DA asked for, and got, about 120 days of extensions, and if that's not frigging expensive, then what is? Anyway, they got acquitted, but I would have loved to have been on the jury that did so. At least they never would get a conviction if I was on the jury. DA probably would have kept me off because of that.

[lpbk2713]

2. When you are interviewed by the attorneys

just tell them the stress you will be subjected to from the hardship inflicted on you over the loss of income will have an adverse impact on your ability to render an objective and impartial verdict.

[BlueIris]

3. I feel that. And my service was easy.

Got called up, went through the selection process, got rejected, went home.

Your experience sounds crappy.

[SeattleGirl]

4. 17 days? Yikes!!

I was called for jury duty about 9 months ago. My company doesn't like the employees sitting for that (not because they don't believe in the justice system, but because of the nature of our work), but I made my case, as it were, to go in for my two mandatory days. Well, the first case I was called for was going to last about 10 days, which would have been fine, except I was scheduled for surgery on day 7, so the judge let me off.

The next one I was called for was postponed on my second day of mandatory duty, so I ended up not serving at all.

Truthfully, I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get to sit on a jury for a short trial, but oh well. And I have to say, I met some really cool people while we were waiting, and we were treated very respectfully by the clerks and the judges.

I really wish the courts would pay people better, though. My check for the two days was $27.50. My company paid me full salary for the two days and I gave the check to them, but not everyone works for a company that will do that.

[MissMarple]

5. Hostile about rich people...just make that clear to the attorney folks.

And, gee, anyone working for the government....power issues.... well...it's all good. ;)

:evilgrin:

[Starbucks Anarchist]

6. Here's the letter I'm writing to the judge:

Let me know what you think:

Honorable Judge XXXX:

In regards to my potential jury service for this particular trial, I must once again put forth my reasons for not being able to fulfill my civic duty for the case before me. As you mentioned yesterday, this trial may last for several weeks. However, my employer only pays for my first 10 days of service. Considering that we are still in the pretrial phase, it is entirely possible that I could miss, at the very least, 20 days of work altogether if I am eventually selected for the jury. This would cause me severe financial hardship, particularly in regards to my ability to pay my monthly rent.
I should also mention that my employer would not be able to handle my prolonged absence, as my workplace is currently experiencing a shortage of employees and an excessive influx of work.
I humbly request you to grant me a discharge from this particular trial so that I may be eligible for a shorter trial, and, subsequently, a less financially burdensome situation. Thank you for your time.

Respectfully,

XXXXX XXXXX

[MissMarple]

7. Sounds good. Short, cogent.

Judges like that. :)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. Thanks!

:hi: