Damn the court system!

[mattsterbenz]

I got jury duty... today. Hopefully they will let me go because im a full time student, gotta appear at court in a little over than an hour.

-Matt

 

[vincegamer]

You should appreciate that you have a right to take part in the execution of your laws. Unless you are for the abolition of juries and for decisions by the whim of the judge....

 

[mattsterbenz]

Originally posted by vincegamer
Unless you are for the abolition of juries and for decisions by the whim of the judge....

Of course not, its just that its VERY bad timing, first day of 2 of my classes is today, and will greatly impact my education.

 

[treide]

In theory, I think jury duty is a great idea and a great opportunity to participate in our government.

In reality, it is a royal pain in the ass, especially for prolonged trials. Other than retirees or individuals on permament disability, most people can\'t afford to be away from work for more than a day or two, and they obviously are not a representative sample of the general populace.

@ vincegamer - Are there special concessions for jury members in the setting of prolonged trials? One might expect that bias would be introduced into the proceedings by the jury, just \"to get things over with\".

 

[Torn blue sky]

I dont\' know about you guys but over here if it conflicts you can get off the hook. You can do this twice before you have to do it.

 

[darkartminiatures]

Hey, i got jury service too. Lucky for me they haven\'t needed me for the first week. So they phoned me up and asked me if i would like to be excused which i said yep. It would be interesting but it really couldn\'t of happened at a worse time for me.

If you explain you problem with your tutors they may back you up and the courts will change your service for a later date Thats what i did when i first got called up for it and i was near the end of my course. Erm...thats within the U.K. btw.

 

[supervike]

I\'ve pulled jury duty a couple of times....It was a hugely interesting thing to me.

Of course, my workplace grants the time off, (WITH PAY) so its not much of a sacrifice for me to go.

 

[vincegamer]

If you are salaried, your employer is required to grant you the time off with pay. If you are hourly, that\'s usually a valid excuse to avoid jury duty: hardship - if I don\'t go to work I don\'t get paid.

Students do have it worse, since they don\'t get paid anyway. However, missing a few days is not in fact going to hurt you much, unless there\'s a test. Usually though, if you have a problem and you get as far as being empanneled, the court will ask if there\'s any reason you can\'t be there for a week and will usually let you leave if so.

Personally, I\'d love to be on a jury. I was called Friday, but there were no jury trials that day so I just sat in the juror lounge in case I was needed. I brought a mini and some paints and was happily busy.

Even if I had been called, it\'s extremely unlikely I would ever be picked for a jury, seeing as I\'m a trial lawyer.

 

[supervike]

Originally posted by vincegamer
If you are salaried, your employer is required to grant you the time off with pay. If you are hourly, that\'s usually a valid excuse to avoid jury duty: hardship - if I don\'t go to work I don\'t get paid.

I\'m hourly...but still get paid. Its good to have a good union!

 

[matty1001]

I work for John Lewis (department store in the UK) and all in-house unions are banned! I also asked about joining an external union but everything has to be done through in house representatives at a democratic council. One bloke i work with was dismissed (he reckons unfairly, but no details were allowed to be discussed) and had to travel to London to make a statement on his own accord just to try and appeal for his job back.

 

[generulpoleaxe]

@matty, no employer can stop you from joining a union. many will give this impression, so that the workers do not know their rights.
i know one company that makes you sighn your contract before allowing you to read it and will not start your employment until you have sighned it.

know your rights and do not stand for wanker employers. (unless they pay a shit load. everyone has there price)

 

[matty1001]

I can join, but i cant be represented by a union member in any council or meeting.

That contract thing is a bit harsh!

 

[philologus]

Originally posted by supervike

Originally posted by vincegamer
If you are salaried, your employer is required to grant you the time off with pay. If you are hourly, that\'s usually a valid excuse to avoid jury duty: hardship - if I don\'t go to work I don\'t get paid.

I\'m hourly...but still get paid. Its good to have a good union!

I\'m salaried and work in a non-union company. Our policy allows hourly employees paid time for jury duty. I once had an employee selected for grand jury and we paid her for six months! Base pay. She worked regular hours on the days that she was not actual in session though.

 

[No Such Agency]

Matty... sounds like Wal-Mart!

My mom was called for jury duty once. She reported that it was practically like being on the set of \"12 Angry Men\". One bullish juror made up his mind on day one, and then tried to harangue everyone else into agreeing with him.

 

[AlecKumbier]

Not letting you have unions!! Sounds like you need to form a union!!

 

[mattsterbenz]

Good news

Went to the court, and they said the trial had been cancelled for the day! Everyone was sent home, and i had to rush to get to my second class of the day, unfortunately i missed calculus, what a tragedy lol

Im surprised to see this thread exploded while i was gone.

-Matt

 

[matty1001]

Originally posted by AlecKumbier
Not letting you have unions!! Sounds like you need to form a union!!

I did \"rally the troops\" and got loads of people in my department (catering) to vote me as a councilor for John Lewis Newcastle, but unfortunately was beaten....by a lot!

I also started the MMM campaign Make Matty Manager, but that sunk like a lead balloon! lol

 

[treide]

Sorry it took me awhile to get back to the post - that pesky work thing tends to get in the way.

@vincegamer - what about self-employed individuals? For example, my father is a dentist, and somehow was selected for jury duty in a capital murder trial years ago. The trial went on for several weeks, and he had to shut down his office practice. Major inconvenience for patients that had to be rescheduled, he had to pay all his employees despite no revenue coming in or they would walk, and his compensation was basically a free box lunch each day (maybe he got some other monetary compensation, but it was a pittance compared to his lost income over that timeframe).

So two questions:

Can people in that situation reliably get out of jury duty?

If so, are juries ever a valid representation of society, assuming those that can get out of jury duty probably will?

So far I have dodged the jury bullet, but I want to know what my options are if this comes up for me.

 

[paintingploddy]

A friend just did a seven week trial of a major drug figure down here. He had it all, a big burly guy sitting in court eyeballing all the jurors, to a juror being dismissed for inappropriate behaviour (I would have paid to be in court while the judge discussed his actions with him), and finally the defendant doing the bunk and fleeing the country after the judge knocked back a prosecution application to revoke his bail. They found him guilty after he fled the country.

Funniest bit is they reckon he fled to Southern Lebanon!

 

[airhead]

Just remember if you ever have to go to trial, that the jury of your \"peers\" is actually 12 people too dumb to get out of jury duty.
:no: