Jury Duty

Why not?

We filled out our jury duty eligibility form a little over a year ago. If I remember correctly, on the form there were exceptions for business owners with under a certain number of employees, or somethin'... in any event, my wife was still W-2 material at the time; it was a few months later that she started her biz.

She looked online to see if she could get out of going altogether, but once you receive notice, you HAVE to report. That being said, I can't imagine counsel selecting you for a jury if you tell them that you'll have a "justice be damned - I just wanna reach a verdict, any verdict!" attitude. The only drawback is a situation like sweet tea ran into.

Don't know the statistics, but when I was selected for a jury, it was the 5th time around for a fellow juror... not the 5th time being called in, but the 5th time actually being selected. Ugh. I think that it's currently no more than once every 7 years in Kings Co.

well, we are the most litigious country in the world. we also have more folks incarcerated than anywhere else. and almost all of those require jury calls (perhaps not trials - in fact, mostly not trials, but the juries are still called because a jury demand has been filed).

personally, the two times I've been called to service went in entirely different ways:

first time was in harris county texas. the criminal defense atty was a guy I'd represented in his divorce case. when I told the judge this, I was dismissed.

second time was in manhattan crim court. I told the court I used to be a criminal defense attorney, that I was currently working as a contract attorney so every day spent on jury duty was a day that I lost money, and that I did not believe in the drug laws being discussed in the matter before the court for which I was being considered for the jury. I got picked for the jury and ended up nullifying with another attorney. neither of us agreed with the law and hung the jury. it took 4 days and fucking blew, since this self-righteous rich guy tried to force us to stay longer to try to financially force me, at least, to change my vote. our fights were bitter (I cursed him out like 5 times - and for those who know me, I rival truck drivers for ability to curse) and if I ever see that guy on the street (unlikely - upper east side fucker) I'll kick him in the nuts. thankfully, the other atty was the foreperson so she basically said we were deadlocked every time he threatened me.

what this proved to me: lawyers are important on juries, but we also have already made a lot of conclusions about hte law on its face, regardless of the facts. people are assholes. manhattan north narcotics: idiots.

doctorj wrote: [quote=WhyFi] I think that it's currently no more than once every 7 years in Kings Co.

i.e. you're not required to deliberate a case more than once every 7 years (14% p.a.) but have to turn up more often just in case.

no, even if you are not chosen, they cannot call you back for 6 years (in this county; different in other places). if they call you, you send in a copy of the letter they gave you when you were released from service.

i just got one too. had to postpone though.

i was called to jury duty in the city but had just moved to brooklyn, they dismissed me and i had to show proof of address. they haven't called back yet. i'm a 5 year naturalized american citizen so the idea of serving was very exciting and i'm actually looking forward to being called back.

minority to white ratio... i think is also a brooklyn thing.

Bah. Both times I've served it was for BS lawsuits that struck me as a tremendous waste of time and resources. Grand Jury stuff sounds interesting, I'd probably try to get a little cabal of my own going to make sure all the minorities went to trial (I'm joking, of course - sounds kind of...odd...when I say it though, no?) but the two weeks would be tough as hell for me. How did you swing that?

Livetotravel wrote: I have been called twice and served twice - both times Grand Jury - 2 weeks each stint, no bargaining. Sit in room with 23 other people hearing mostly low level drug cases, but every now and then a child molestation case, or a burglary case, or a gun charge, or even one time a murder. Our job was to determine if there was enough reason to send the case to trail. We did this 7-8 hours a day 5 days a week.

Each time I was able to enlist a big enough cabal to make sure we sent all the white defendants to trial (just to balance the scales of justice), let the kids off who just made their first fuck-up and raised lots of questions about police misconduct with attorneys.

I felt good about serving - and found that my very diverse group of brothers and sisters were a hell of a lot smarter when it came to hearing testimony about crime then any white hipster, artist, lawyer, real estate agent, etc.

By the end of the process I considered all my fellow grand jurors my peers. It was a tremendously rewarding experience to have been able to interact with 23 people representing every single element of life in Brooklyn.

you have odd definitions of "justice" and "diversity", me thinks.

I'm resurrecting this thread because I have jury duty tomorrow and I have three important questions:

1. Where should I go for lunch? Last time I served in Manhattan and had the wonders of Chinatown at my disposal, this time I must admit I don't know many restaurants near the Brooklyn courthouses. This information is vital to my ability to put up with jury duty.

2. What is "appropriate courtroom attire"? My job doesn't even require business casual, so admittedly I'm light on nicer clothes now. Can I wear jeans if they're not grungy?

3. Are camera phones really not allowed? It's the only phone I have and at the least it keeps me connected to work while I have to be out of the office. Considering you can barely find a phone with no camera these days I can't believe this could really be enforced.

1. there's plenty of gross fast food, but it gets very crowded, since everyone has lunch at once. i found i had plenty of time to hoof it down to atlantic for good middle eastern food instead. there's a place by sahadi's with a name that sounds like yemen (sorry i can't remember better) that was a genuine sanctuary. i also went to a nice old diner on court and livingston.

3. i think i was allowed to keep my camera phone. in fact, i don't remember them searching my bag, only x-raying it. (this was this past january.)

I didn't have to turn over my cam phone.

There are a bunch of dining options on Montague also.