Karma is so sweet. Called for United States District Court jury duty

Grits

Grits

I'm a Dirt Bag.
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I got home tonight and the wife told me I had a letter from the court house. One look at the return address and not just any court house but the US District Court in Asheville.

My boss ain't going to be happy but I'm looking forward to getting away from work for a little while.

The summons states I could be called any time during the 4 week term to serve. Oh well.

He sent this text to me when I sent one of my managers to cover another store this week;

"You have stepped up to the plate on several occasions to help the other stores out and they will do the same for you."

Well karma is sweet and I'm looking forward to jury duty and having my peers help cover my absence.


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Got one of those a couple of years ago, but didn't have to serve, thankfully. Talk about putting your life on hold for weeks, and for $40 a day. Plus you have the pleasure of 2+ hours on the road every day.

And you can't even take your phone into the building so you could even play solitaire during down time.
 
Plott Hound said:
Got one of those a couple of years ago, but didn't have to serve, thankfully. Talk about putting your life on hold for weeks, and for $40 a day. Plus you have the pleasure of 2+ hours on the road every day.

And you can't even take your phone into the building so you could even play solitaire during down time.
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Same here. Took the time to ride my bike down to New Bern to find the court house the day before and never got called in once.
 
At least it is "on call" and not report every day.
My China boss would be expecting me to work every day even if I had jury duty.
I can't imagine the hardship caused by long trials with jury sequestered.


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BowWow said:
......your job must be terrible to look forward to juty duty!
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I manage a fast food restaurant.. I have been in the business for 39 years. The last 5 years have been tough.

At least this would be a break from the daily grind. Maybe a little justice would be served too.

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Grits said:
I manage a fast food restaurant.. I have been in the business for 39 years. The last 5 years have been tough.

At least this would be a break from the daily grind. Maybe a little justice would be served too.

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I understand......a day away from dealing with the public might be a blessing.
 
Ferrisfan said:
I have often wondered how you actually exercise this in the courtroom. Does the foreman of the jury announce that the defendant is “guilty but the jury exercises its option to nullify”?
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If it happens, and that's rare, you get the OJ ruling. The reason it rarely happens is that humans, living in a society don't want to see criminals escape justice.

Also when a charge has progressed to a jury trial the charge isn't some stupid simple possession rap.
 
Ferrisfan said:
I have often wondered how you actually exercise this in the courtroom. Does the foreman of the jury announce that the defendant is “guilty but the jury exercises its option to nullify”?
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One simply votes not guilty

I am a firm believer in "No victim, no crime". If I serve on a jury, and there was no victim, my verdict will always be not guilty.
 
I got a jury summons in January. I emailed the clerk to let them know I never have, and never will sit on a jury unless they can match may pay for the day. I told them to feel free to hit me with a $50 fine (the max punishment for FTA on jury summons) but I wouldn't be paying it either.

He called me the next day and suggested I call in the evening before I was due to appear, because I may not even be needed. I asked him what part of my email wasn't clear, and told him I wasn't wasting my time or money to sit in a courtroom unarmed, while they prosecuted someone that would serve 90 days and be back at it again after cutting a deal because they "know someone."

He thanked me for my time and that was the end of it.
 
4 weeks?
I've been serving on the Grand Jury since July 2017 and my term doesn't expire until July 2018.
It's not that bad. And after that I'm exempt for 7 years.
 
Check you company policy too as some companies pay you regular pay when you have to serve jury duty.

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You know, in all my years to date, I don't ever recall receiving a notice for jury duty.

Too bad...because I'd willingly serve jury duty.

Yeah...there's the old pay issue...hard to argue with receiving a daily pay that would amount to 1/2 to 1 hour of what my job pays, but in my opinion, the key word in "jury duty" is "duty".

This is an important cornerstone in the foundation of our form of government. The jury was envisioned as a key instrument in the checks against the power of our government over its citizens.

I would be quite honored to sit in that role.
 
kcult said:
At almost 50y/o, I have never even received a summons.

I guess I can't be trusted.
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I went most of my adult life and never received a jury summons (local or US). Within a couple months of applying for my CHP I received my first :rolleyes:, and about 5 or 6 since, one for US district court. Always called the night before and told I wasn't needed, so that is as far as any of them went.

Now I'm old enough to ask for exclusion from serving, which I've already had to do.
 
BloodRunsThicker said:
Check you company policy too as some companies pay you regular pay when you have to serve jury duty.

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Regular pay. I'm salaried. If called, check will be a igned and handed to HR. I don't have a problem with that.

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kcult said:
At almost 50y/o, I have never even received a summons.

I guess I can't be trusted.
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Nope. It's because the AG monitors this forum. OP got picked despite that because he isn't one of our more incendiary members.

I too have never been summoned. If I were, I wouldn't try to get excused. It's a duty of citizenship. If I were ever put on trial, I'd want 12 jurors just like me. And maybe @DrPhudd.

:cool:
 
Jeppo said:
I'd jump at the chance to earn $40 a day. Been ages. :(
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Ha! Forsyth county jury duty is $12 a day. Didn't even cover the cost of gas and lunch.
Judge said financial hardship is not a valid excuse. So going bankrupt, getting foreclosed on, losing health insurance fron getting stuck on a long case is not a valid excuse. But declaring that one will vote I whatever way gets one out fastest is.
Of course, stating one believes in jury nullification is an instant bump of the pool.

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Grits said:
Regular pay. I'm salaried. If called, check will be a igned and handed to HR. I don't have a problem with that.

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I've never had an employer demand the check from the county. It is so damn small that it costs more for them to process the deposit.

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fishgutzy said:
Ha! Forsyth county jury duty is $12 a day. Didn't even cover the cost of gas and lunch.
Judge said financial hardship is not a valid excuse. So going bankrupt, getting foreclosed on, losing health insurance fron getting stuck on a long case is not a valid excuse. But declaring that one will vote I whatever way gets one out fastest is.
Of course, stating one believes in jury nullification is an instant bump of the pool.

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It was worded to us like so from the judge....... If the stress of lost income that could result in hardship to you and your family will keep you from making a sane or lawful decision, then you are excused. I think they did want some type of proof that you were self employed or something of that nature. I think a hairdresser got released like that. Still had to go through the individual interviews, but many were released for such reason. However.... I'm sure we had a different judge.
 
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BowWow said:
It was worded to me like so....... If the stress of lost income that could result in hardship to you and your family will keep you from making a sane or lawful decision, then you are excused. I think they did want some type of proof that you were self employed or something of that nature. I think a hairdresser got released like that. Still had to go through the individual interviews, but many were released for such reason.
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I wrote a letter right after I received a jury summons and was excused due to being self employed in a company of one while being the sole provider for my wife and two small kids at the time.
 
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BowWow said:
It was worded to us like so from the judge....... If the stress of lost income that could result in hardship to you and your family will keep you from making a sane or lawful decision, then you are excused. I think they did want some type of proof that you were self employed or something of that nature. I think a hairdresser got released like that. Still had to go through the individual interviews, but many were released for such reason. However.... I'm sure we had a different judge.
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The case I was on, the judge would not let anyone who was self employed and the only income for the family off. She said she didn't care and if she let Werribee use that excuse nobody would serve.
One women just kept saying something else until the persecutor dismissed her.
The defense was never going to object to me being in the jury. As an engineer he figured I buy arguments against the truing method. A DWI case.
I remembered, after the case started, that I had voted for the ADA when he was running for judge. He lost out to a woman.

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fieldgrade said:
I wrote a letter right after I received a jury summons and was excused due to being self employed in a company of one while being the sole provider for my wife and two small kids at the time.
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Lucked out. The judge in the case I sat would not have excused you. She let of one guy only because he was the sole care provider for his sick wife. But nobody was allowed out for being the sole income. And there were at least 3 who lost all income for days of jury service.

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fishgutzy said:
Lucked out. The judge in the case I sat would not have excused you. She let of one guy only because he was the sole care provider for his sick wife. But nobody was allowed out for being the sole income. And there were at least 3 who lost all income for days of jury service.

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Not luck. I write damn good letters. :)

I got a one year extension from the IRS on a quirky deal that needed the extension because they drug their feet, and they wouldn't even answer my BIL, a principal partner in a CPA firm when he had to write a comparable letter for his side of the same deal.
 
Grits...have fun. maybe you will write a best-selling book, depending upon the cases presented.
i have been called twice, never served. the defense lawyers took a look at me and used their
peremptory challenges.
 
Scott Free said:
I got a jury summons in January. I emailed the clerk to let them know I never have, and never will sit on a jury unless they can match may pay for the day. I told them to feel free to hit me with a $50 fine (the max punishment for FTA on jury summons) but I wouldn't be paying it either.

He called me the next day and suggested I call in the evening before I was due to appear, because I may not even be needed. I asked him what part of my email wasn't clear, and told him I wasn't wasting my time or money to sit in a courtroom unarmed, while they prosecuted someone that would serve 90 days and be back at it again after cutting a deal because they "know someone."

He thanked me for my time and that was the end of it.
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Good thing everyone isn't like you. I hope you don't have to go through a jury trial with a bunch of jurors like you.
 
Friday said:
4 weeks?
I've been serving on the Grand Jury since July 2017 and my term doesn't expire until July 2018.
It's not that bad. And after that I'm exempt for 7 years.
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I served on the Grand Jury for Lexington County, SC in 1986... was an alternate juror, and during the seating process one of the jurors was dismissed, so I was called up right off the bat... served on the GJ for a year, 2 days every month... at the end of the year, 6 of the 18 jurors are held over for a second year to maintain continuity of the jury... well, I landed a second year of 2 days a month...
 
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