CCW and jury duty

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exavid

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It's been a long time since I was called for jury duty. I was wondering if having a CCW permit has any effect on being called.
 
Doubt it would even arise as a void dire question, unless the crime involves CCW or something relevant to guns. Obviously, DO NOT bring your piece to court.
 
Was voir-dired on a case of felon in possession of a weapon. Nobody asked about CCW, or views on gun ownership generally. The defense was apparently going to be "I didn't 'possess' it because it was in my attic." Didn't get selected, and I don't know how the trial turned out...
 
Mine was actually a benefit. It got me out of waiting in the cattle lines to get in to the federal courthouse, and let me walk right by the rest waiting in line outside the door every morning to go through the metal detectors and give up all their goodies.

I got to put my gun, reload, knife, phone, and any other "prohibitive" items they normally take from you in the lock box. A quick wand pass by the locker marshal, and I was on my way. Leaving was just as easy. :)
 
Enter the courthouse with your concealed handgun and your chances of being excused will probably increase significantly. :D
 
I got my first CCW permit around 1973 or so. I'm now almost 65, and have never, ever been called for jury duty in spite of always being registered to vote. Coincidence? I doubt it but it is certainly curious. I have friends who have been called seveal times.
 
Little off point, but I used to be called for Jury Duty quite often, never had to serve. It's mostly because of my location and the local 911 addresses. I'm addressed to a town in one county, but I live two miles inside another county. The county in which the town resides that is attached to my address is the one requesting jury duty, but when they find out my address isn't actually in their county, they send a thanks, but no thanks letter.
 
I live in a very lightly populated county, I get called every couple of years. I've served twice, once on a criminal case and once on a civil one. You can't get into the courtroom with a firearm, they have metal detectors. I've always left mine in the vehicle, the courthouse is swarming with LEO's while court is in session anyway. If you do actually serve on a jury then you're exempt for three years. It's something everybody should do at least once IMO.

The way they do it here, if you don't want to be selected, sit as far in the back as possible, they always start the voir dire process at the front.
 
It should have no effect on being called, unless your county uses CCW registration as part of how it finds jurors, in which case it would increase your chances of being called, not decrease them.


Here it is randomly generated based on voter registration.
I have been called four years in a row now. The computer is not random enough. Or perhaps there is a high number of prohibited persons/low number of voters in the area that keeps summoning me.

An area with fewer registered voters per capita or more people that are felons or without their voting rights restored will have a smaller pool to pick from.
That would increase your chances of being summoned.
Maybe you just live in a county with a lot of voters per capita.


In California they pay you nothing for the first day of jury duty.
$15 for the entire day each additional day after the first day. Which is not even 2 hours of minimum wage pay in a state with one of the highest costs of living.
Whether you are giving up one or more of your vacation days, or not getting paid those days, jury duty costs you money in California.
I am glad to be in a country with the jury system though so gladly do my part.
 
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Jury Duty

My employees get paid for any days lost for jury duty. The dont have to take leave. All they have to do is provide the summons and proof from the court that they served. Since you sometimes get excused if you aren't selected for a jury by 1pm I don't require my employees to go to work for the rest of the day.

I know the Federal govt has a similar policy for Feds.
 
We lived in Skagit Co from 1970 to 2005, always registered to vote, never called to jury duty.

In 2005 we moved to Okanogan County, I have notice I am in the jury pool for this month for the second time since we moved here...my wife still has not been called.

As in PA. We have metal detectors at the door, lock boxes for dangerous/prohibited items.
 
I'm curious about something, what if a prospective juror was/is a felon who had all of his civil rights restored, including the right to vote and the right to possess firearms, would he be allowed to serve on a jury?

On form 4473 he gets to say No, never convicted of a felony, but what about when the defense attorney asks him the same question in open court?
 
I would think that most counties use only voter registration rolls or driver license lists. In each case you are required to provide your address so that you can vote or drive. And since most counties want the largest candidate pool, IMO they would not use a CCW list which would hold fewer candidates, compared to the others.

Do they cross check? Possibly,. but I doubt it. That would mean extra work. Better to call in a big group of people and let voir dire wean out the gun lovers. Or haters! :p
 
Not sure about exclusion and what not, but around here in WA, you can carry INTO the courthouse, but you have to check the weapon in. They like it that you get there a little early obviously, but you can carry into the courthouse you just have to let them know at the checkpoint. Some will give you false information if you call ahead, some are clueless about the law (and the safe answer for them is just plain no) and some are convinced it is illegal because it doesn't compute with them and they don't want to be bothered to look it up OR questioned by a civlian peon. In this case, you just have to call 'em out, get their boss. See, they have to provide this, it is in the law here. But there was a thread on here earlier this year about a guy given a hassle going in for jury duty downtown Seattle at the county courthouse. They lied to him, went so far as to threaten him, but it was all bluster.

Make sure your state is like this though. Our state has to either permit you to carry, or provide you with a check-in when passing through secure public areas. This does NOT apply to federal property, they've already got a defacto ban in place as it is.

No way I'd show up to jury duty any other way, and probably open carry too because it would be a good place I think to "protest" and actively promote the 2A in public. Most people think you can't carry there (you can't carry far) and that may be a plausible reasoning for Joe Blow civilian, but this ignorance extends to the folks enforcing this very law, the very guy at the check in! That kind of ignorance is simply unacceptable, how can a guy enforce laws he doesn't even know exist?

So summary: you can carry in the courthouses in WA, but not very far, they have to check it in, but chances are the guy at the check in will think it is for cops only, and your attempt at schooling him will be all for naught (they don't like their "authority" to be questioned) so just go straight to his boss and have him read the moron the actual law passed by legislature he should be enforcing and not the crap he made up that morning.

The advice from a 20+ year WA cop in Seattle: just leave it in the car, don't tread on that cop's ignorance, that it is better to do that than to argue your rights with a cop. Really? Really!? I'll check my pistol at the door, but I won't be checking my rights at the door, not now not ever, and that is why I would make such a bid deal out of carrying to the courthouse. I'm real quiet and discreet otherwise, but you question my rights and I'll up the anty.
 
Jurors are usually picked from the list of registered voters. This is a holdover from the days when only tax paying citizens could vote.
 
Still odd, I've been a registered voter since I was old enough to vote. Personally I believe that anyone who pays no income or property tax should vote. Allowing the indigent to vote is a mistake. Even the Romans knew that if you allowed the non-vested in the country to vote they'd only vote for politicians who promise more benefits for them. Kinda like what we have going on now with the Democrats and public employee unions.
 
I have been registered to vote since I turned 18 more than 35 years ago. I still have yet to be called for jury duty.

Other people, like my younger brother has been called twice for federal jury duty and once for local, never accepted for federal because he once served as a witness, and was just part of the "cattle call" for the local court.

A friend of mine has been called 7 times in 10 years for jury duty, three Federal, 4 local, and he served on 5 of those juries.

I very much doubt that having a concealed carry license would keep you from being called, but I sometimes wonder just how random getting selected really is.
 
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I think they use many available public records to call jurors - voter registration rolls, driver's license records. etc. Haven't heard of CHL records being used, but I suppose it's possible.

I've been called to various courts as a juror, usually being dismissed either before or as a result of voir dire. Have been called - and served - both before and after I got my Texas CHL. Concealed carry has never come up - maybe it would have if the cases were different.

I got to put my gun, reload, knife, phone, and any other "prohibitive" items they normally take from you in the lock box.
Click to expand...

TX law doesn't permit CHL in court, but my local municipality doesn't do searches or have metal detectors. And phones are prohibited? In my local court, the bailiff just tells people to be sure their phones are OFF before the judge enters the courtroom.
 
Not sure about our local courthouse now, but in the federal court house here, you werent allowed to keep your phone.

It sort of makes sense from a security standpoint on their end. Then again, security likes to "control" everything and everybody they possibly can.
 
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