I’ve never even served on a jury and I’ve never sat in the jury box, either
The one time I got kind of close, a few years ago, I wouldn’t have been chosen, as it was a case about landlords vs tenants and all landlords were systematically excused after questioning, so I wouldn’t have been selected, either.
Last time, just a few months ago, I spent 5 days at the courthouse before being excused. My mileage reimbursement was an insultingly small amount, imo
The case involved a robbery and death and I felt bad for one of the defendants, as his public defender was VERY old, probably around 90, and seemed very much lost and out of it. During the lunch break, he plopped down on the bench next to me and was snoring loudly within seconds. Not a good look, as far as I was concerned
If you want to keep working well into your golden years, that’s great . . . but you should actually be good at your job and appear alive and mentally sharp, imo
In my state mileage reimbursement is easy to compute. Enter miles, multiply by zero the result is your reimbursement.
What worse, my employer did not pay us if selected, we just got our $15/day. But I was never selected. When on active duty I did have to testify in several Courts Martial cases, that I did not enjoy.
… and then we have elderly judges, such as the borderline-demented one who shouted bizarre comments to me during Voir Dire. And yet, some people would apparently want to have their fate decided solely by a judge.
A certain profession I can think of requires two individuals to lift a 250 ton metal, rubber, humanity, and fuel-laden object off the ground at over 120kts, fly it through the air for 3-12 hours, and land it safely halfway round the world.
Does that mean they are qualified to work in a bakery shop, or to perform complex surgeries?
Juries decide if witnesses are telling the truth, therefore the facts, and in turn guilt or innocence. The judge decides matters of law, such as when the opposing lawyer objects, and instructs the jury on procedure.
If you don’t understand that, that inability to comprehend should be stated to the judge.
Neither of those qualify for not serving. Most people are like that. If knowledge of the legal system is needed, the judge provides the instructions for the jury to follow.
Ha ha. Yeah the judge in question threw the book at me but excused the pastors kid for an even worse violation. So I have no illusion of judges being smart, fair, or even aware of the law. And yeah the judges kid who somehow passed the bar, was dumb as a stump. Yeah it’s kinda ca4 related so don’t taze me bro.
Oh this is fun remembering on a cold Sunday morning. My boss was mad because he had to pay me while on jury duty. He said you don’t have to be very smart to get out of it. He wore glasses so I controlled myself. I said I thought it was my duty to serve whether he paid me or not. The girl a couple houses down got called at the same time. She was the gold weigher for a jewelry company and said the whole place shut down until she could certify the gold for the day. He let her off. I don’t know if she was telling the truth or not.
At any rate it was an education. As a teenager I had already concluded that if ever accused, you’d better have money for a good lawyer. And don’t back down. Don’t let them smell blood.
At one time, teachers in NJ were exempt from jury duty (during the school year) because of the expense of having to hire substitutes–possibly for the long term. Then, circa the late ‘80s-early ‘90s, they eliminated that exemption, probably because it was becoming difficult to find jurors. My school district issued a memorandum reminding us that, while they would pay our salary while we served on a jury, we had to sign-over the $15 per day jury pay to the school district. Yup! The financial security of the school district supposedly depended on those checks for $15 (or, possibly a bit more).
On this same topic, after my last retirement, I received a jury summons for the Federal District Court in Trenton, NJ. That would have entailed a 2 hour daily commute, so I wasn’t looking forward to serving in that location. The summons included a questionnaire that included questions about one’s current or former employment. I answered–honestly–that I had recently retired from a position as the Legal Assistant to two NJ Deputy AGs. In short order, I was notified that they had no need for my service, obviously because any defense lawyer in his/her right mind would have “challenged me for cause” during Voir Dire, and I would have been eliminated from that jury pool. It would have been a waste of the court’s time to even include me in the jury panel.
Now that I’m the age of a fossil, I’m exempt… period.
My Dad had jury duty and he only had an 8th grade education. My brother had Jury Duty, and he was named Forman partly because he was the only one with a college degree.
I think Minnesota is 65. Can’t remember anything anyway so no point. My son had gone back to work in a UK hospital to increase his experience and while gone got called for jury duty. I explained he was out of the country and the guy said no problem and never called him again.
Just a short note, while in the military, I was called to be a panel member on two different courts martial. The panel serves the same function as a jury; we just are not called the “jury…” One advantage of this system when you are on the panel is, after the Prosecutor and Defense Lawyers have asked their questions, the military judge asks if we, the panel, have any questions… If we do, and I did in both cases… asked questions. We write our questions down on a piece of paper, the judge reads it and if it is permitted, it is shown to the Prosecutor and Defense Lawyers and if they have no objections, the judge reads the question to the defendant…
Additionally, I have been called to serve on two civilian jury trials, once while I still in the military and later after I retired. In both cases when the defense attorney asked me if I have ever served as a juror before, I was excused.
My own family Attorney and friend explains it this way…
Retired military members are often excused by defense attorneys because our background may lead to a bias toward law enforcement or the prosecution. Attorneys typically perceive us (veterans) as having a “rule-following,” hierarchical, and “law and order” mindset, which may conflict with the defense’s goal of questioning evidence or casting doubt on the state’s case.
In Virginia, there is no age limit, but if you are over 70, and you do not want to serve, you can get out of jury duty for that reason by itself…