Just got off of a Jury...

You'll want to check out this site if you're ever on a Jury again.

http://www.fija.org/

When they believe justice requires it, jurors can refuse to apply the law. Jurors have the power to consider whether the law itself is wrong (including whether it is "unconstitutional"), or is being applied for political reasons. Is the defendant being singled out as "an example" in order to demonstrate government muscle? Were the defendant's constitutional rights violated during the arrest? Much of today's "crime wave" consists of victimless crimes--crimes against the state, or "political crimes", so if you feel that a verdict of guilty would give the government too much power, or help keep a bad law alive, just remember that you can refuse to apply any law that violates your conscience.

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http://www.fija.org/docout.php?id=151&filename=true_or_false_new.pdf&filesize=328864

EDIT:
Last time Iw as on a jury, it was for a DUI case. The opposing lawyer gave a great argument about how the guy might not have been legally drunk when he was driving.

The rest of the jury, a bunch of old ladies felt they should let him go because they weren't sure. I told them about this, and asked them, "Do you feel this man drank too much then got behind the wheel of a car?"
Everyone answered yes
"so we should convict him. His Blood Alcohol was above the legal limit when he was processed. If you feel he broke the law, we should tell that to the judge. That's why we're here. if it was just a simple set of facts, then we wouldn't be here; a computer would."

That site has a very liberal "let the criminals go" slant, but honestly, the rights go both ways and more peopel need to know that.

Yeah, it sure isn't like the make-believe they show on TV is it? I had to sit jury duty exactly once, more than 30 years ago, and my experience was similar to yours. I haven't gotten called back since, although i have gotten a couple of notices from the courts over the years. Don't want to go thru that again, and i will do my best to get myself disqualified if i'm ever so 'fortunate' as to get picked again.

I did 3 weeks of jury duty last month, never knew someone could be charged with murder for drunk driving & killing someone. In the end we found him guilty, this being his 5th offense and hopefully his last.

Stupid button.

When I was in college (in Balitmore,), I got called to jury duty back in NYC and never had to show up. I've never gotten called since. I certainly wont be accepted to a jury once I become a lawyer.

Only time I've been called they asked before anything else if you were paid by your employer to serve if you said yes you were put in group "A" if you said no in group "B". I was in group B. After an hour's wait they dismissed all of group "B" and kept all of group A. From what I've seen around here only government and union jobs pay you for jury duty. Another reason to never work union...
whoops, flame away. I've said something "Inappropriate" again

But that was the nicest thing that employeer ever did for me

I will never serve

I won't ever serve on a jury because I will never believe anything a cop says.
You do realize that they ARE allowed to lie don't you?

I won't ever serve on a jury because I will never believe anything a cop says.
You do realize that they ARE allowed to lie don't you?

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Huh?

I will never sit on a jury either. I do not believe in our system. It has absolutley NOTHING to do with JUSTICE. It is nothing but a horse and pony show for lawyers. Lawyers are dishonest and do lie. It does not matter. They are not out for truth and justice but who WIN their case and the heck with anything else. This what our Justice system has become and it is supported by the Lawyers, Judges and Modern thinking Law Schools. I will walk into jury selection with a copy of Mein Kampf, The Commumist Manifesto and Unintended Consequences and tell them I am studying to decide what type of legal system I believe in.

You're right.

It's the "legal system," not the "justice system."

-- John D.

I'm in the same boat as beerslurpy.

I tell them I study criminal justice, and both lawyers start scribbling on their pads. I get my check for 17.50 and go home.

If I could say I think that cops are incapable of telling the truth, and trials are completely futile, I would leave this country. I may have issues with some cops, but this doesn't mean I despise all of them.

The wheels of justice grind slow but fine. This system is the worst there is, except for all the others. Don't you think it's a little indulgent to bask in the order our system provides and scoff at it at the same time?

wow, I am really disillusioned by the responses

If you are not serving on jury duty, who is? From my personal experiences, I can answer that question.
1. too dumb to get out of jury duty (and by extension, too dumb to make an informed decision...but our system does not exclude one for being dumb)
2. retired and nothing better to do.
3. unemployed and picking up $5 per day (or whatever).
4. people who get paid to be there by their employers and want to make that last as long as possible.

I guess I fall into #1. You get to read my posts and decide that one

I served on two juries in three years and this was representative of both juries...not the pool, but those selected.

Next time you wish to rail on how our judicial system has gone astray... next time a jury verdict comes down which is obviously idiotic...stop and think.

If you continue to avoid your duty and leave it up to someone else (and it will likely be someone less informed/intelligent/analytical than you) then do not be surprised when stupidity rules the day.

OJ verdict, anyone?

I won't ever serve on a jury because I will never believe anything a cop says.
You do realize that they ARE allowed to lie don't you

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As a lawyer, I found the two juries I served on to be eye-opening. Not sure I'd want my fate decided by that system.

Let's be honest guys. Is there a better system out there? Would we rather a king hand out edicts? Rule by law, representation by people qualified in that law may not be a great system, but it's a lot better than any other system in history.

I won't ever serve on a jury because I will never believe anything a cop says.
You do realize that they ARE allowed to lie don't you

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All the more reason YOU should sit on a jury.


I had jury duty for the first time a few months ago. I'd been called before, but never made it past Voir Dere (thats a French word for Jury Tampering ).


It was an interesting experience and we let the guy off of an "Obstruction of a peace officer" charge because we felt the officers on the scene didn't give him enough time to comply before they jumped him (basically they told him what they wanted him to do WHILE tackling him for not doing it).

Both officers were decent and professional guys, but they just got a little hasty.

Anyway, I used to dread being called and used to try to figure out how to "get out of it" ... but after serving, I have no intention of ever trying to get out of jury duty (unless its clearly going to be a real long trial ... those people who served on the OJ trial deserve $1,000,000 each as far as I'm concerned).

The people on the jury I served on consisted of :

• Creative director for a publishing company (me)
• Preacher's Wife (who was VERY pregnant ... I figured she'd drop the kid during deliberations)*
• A retired age housewife.
• A hair dresser (she was our foreperson as well).
• A laborer
• A college student

(it was a 6 man jury, the reserve the 12 man juries for felonies and such).

Nobody really fit in orionengnr's list ... most of us didn't want to be there but really felt we were contributing to society by doing it. If I'm ever charged with a crime I hope I get 6 or 12 people who are just like we were.


*Oh, if you do jury duty, hope and pray there's a pregnant woman on your jury ... you'll get the absolute best treatment ... we had lots of people ready to step-and-fetch-it anything we wanted .

I won't ever serve on a jury because I will never believe anything a cop says. You do realize that they ARE allowed to lie don't you?

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That's no reason not to serve. The judge may not care that the arrest report and the officer's testimony are contradictory but you as a member of the jury can hold them accountable and defend the innocent from being reailroaded. Your attitude allows them them to continue getting away with it.

jurt duty here is $40 a day. I mention this since I saw one post indicating pay as a reason to drop people from the pool.

If called for Jury duty, you should serve.
'Tis your duty as an American.
After all, we serve up the best justice money can buy.

I guess I have technically gotten paid to serve as a juror. I am a salaried engineer and my boss' have never tried to deduct pay or make me take vacation days for serving.

I have served on a murder trial before. It was a strange trial. We found the guy guilty. I still feel it was the right decision. We were fortunate to have a good judge who let the lawyers present the evidence and didn't allow a lot of nonsense. It only took a total of almost 4 days but could have taken longer.

I have also served on a worthless small claims civil trial that took less than an afternoon to decide. That was a waste of time and the old guy who represented himself did not do a very good job of proving the defendant owed him anything. He didn't even have a summary of how he got to the total dollars he was asking for. He just had receipts for about 1/3 of it. No explanation.

One other thing: Serving on a Jury is your chance to contribute to our legal/justice system. If you go out of your way to avoid it, why then do you complain all the time? I can understand the feeling as judges and fellow jury members can be very frustrating.

That FIJA site has a very liberal "let the criminals go" slant,

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I know some of the founders of FIJA. I think they have more of a "stop enforcing victimless 'crime' laws" slant (which as they point out, was a major force in ending the first Prohibition crime wave... by ending Prohibition). They're not against locking up murderers.

I certainly agree with everyone who wants intelligent people to serve on juries. In my experience they tend to be the ones kicked off by the lawyers, but that's because only a couple show up...