Anyone know how to get out of jury duty?

I think they will usually let you off if you're dead.....otherwise you should serve. Who knows, one day you might want someone just like you to serve on a jury so that you get a fair hearig.

((I choose NOT to vote...... another choice, so I am not making the laws....... So again, this is not MY civic duty, nor is it my fight.))

What a bunch of nonsense. That reminds me of the Amish. They choose not to fight, but they sure do enjoy the freedom that people have died for.

I do not mind if people do not want to fight in a war. There are plenty of people who are willing to defend their country if need be. But to say I do not vote and therefore I am not responsable is just nonsense.

If you do not want to serve, then pray about it. The Bible says that God will give us the desires of our heart if we delight ourself in Him. He will find a way to get you out of jury duty. Even if He did not find a way, still He causes all things to work out for the best for us. So we have nothing to worry about.

As for me, I spent far to many years trying to run my own life and just making a mess out of things. God does a much better job than I do. Just allow Him to be in control and He will work it all out for you.

Maybe you should leave the country.

I've been called for jury duty several times. Many times, it's an exercise in frustration, because you sit and WAIT. Oftentimes you sit for hours and wait only to hear it's been settled out of court. Everyone gripes about jury duty.

Well, I'm one of the fortunate few who gets paid my regular salary while serving on a jury. I have to turn my monumental $6.00/day over to my employer, which is no biggie, obviously.

I feel that in order to live in this country, and enjoy the benefits provided, jury duty is part of the package. If you don't want to participate, then there are probably many places around the world where you could move. However, even if you spoke the language, I'm willing to bet the typical CONVENIENCES you find here in the US would make you homesick.

That's usually the best way to appreciate your own home....go visit someplace else.

I've lived in Germany twice. And although I enjoyed my times overseas, I could hardly WAIT to get home. I missed round doorknobs, American toilets, American toilet TISSUE, American shopping hours, American streets and roads, American TV, and a whole lot of other things American.

Just try driving on cobblestones for twelve months!

The system we have here isn't perfect. Smurfy, your bad experience is proof of that. But perhaps by serving on a jury, you could see that a child of a similar age when you were abused, might possibly be placed in the PROPER place. You might be the deciding factor on a jury. Because not only do the jurors listen to all the evidence presented, they get to DISCUSS it, and they bring their life experiences to the table. Your Christian beliefs could possibly be a witness to a fellow juror.

As for me, I hate having a yearly physical and a mammogram. A mammogram is painful and degrading. I dread it, every year. But I put up with it because it has the potential to save my life.

You gotta take the good with the bad.



Peace,
~VOW

There are other countries that are MUCH better than America, like Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. None of them have a terrorist murderer for a president and none of them have jury duty.

Quote. There are other countries that are MUCH better than America, like Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. None of them have a terrorist murderer for a president and none of them have jury duty.

Sorry buddy but I live in the U.K. and we DO have jury duty.
Certain people are excused by reason of their profession such as clergy.
The common 5/8 need a doctor's letter pleading unfit medical condition
such as insanity or half dead already.

There may be nice counties other than America but I dnop't think any of them are as free as the US

Originally posted by Sky
There are other countries that are MUCH better than America, like Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. None of them have a terrorist murderer for a president and none of them have jury duty.

Click to expand...

 

We're not supposed to kill the terrorists?

Originally posted by Sky
There are other countries that are MUCH better than America,....Singapore,.... none of them have jury duty.

Click to expand...

 

So, you're complaining about jury duty, but think it's acceptable to cane people for petty offenses and fine people hundreds of dollars for dropping gum on the street?  Have you been to Singapore?  I have, and I met a lot of people who would love to live with jury duty in exchange for the freedoms we have here.  In fact, I met a lot of people in each of the 15 countries I've been to that would.  Go to Eritrea one day.  I bet they wouldn't complain about jury duty.  They'd at least get a meal with it. 

I was in Jordan for a month with the Navy and served as shore patrol, riding with the Jordanian Police.  I watched them beat a twelve year old kid in the middle of the street for shoplifting a piece of fruit.  No judge, no jury, oh, but no jury duty to disturb the public.  But, if America were like that I suppose you'd be complaining that the kid didn't get a fair trial.  In Saudi Arabia, the women we had on our ship weren't allowed to leave the ship unless they wore a burqa because all women are considered inferior.  But, no jury duty to inconvenience anyone.  Of course, if your were a woman there you wouldn't have to worry about it anyway.   

If you're embarassed to be an American, then there are many flights that leave the country each day from a major airport near you. 

*Edited to correct an oversight

Originally posted by smurfy2day
Well, I thank you all for your opinions, but I still will try my best to get out of it.


Thanks.

Click to expand...

Hey Smurfy,

I hate the idea of jury duty, too. If you look at how it's done, people are REQUIRED to go or they are fined or jailed. That's involuntary servitude and Gerry, it's unconstitutional from that perspective.

However, I was able to get out of it several times because I worked nights. If you're a day sleeper, you don't have to serve.

Also, if your employer does not pay you when you go to jury duty, you may be able to claim financial hardship, depending on your situation.

I have gone to jury duty a couple of times recently because I no longer work nights. It's a good experience for someone who doesn't like the system.

You get to watch how the other people who have been called behave. What an amazing experience. How many of them are happy to serve their country that way?? Just about none.

And, you get to watch how the employees of the court system treat the jurors. They usually act like they are handling prisoners. Not a good way to treat folks who are serving their country, is it?

And, if you are called into the courtroom, you get to hear all the excuses people make to the judge for why they cannot serve, and get to see how compassionate the judges are. Some are, some aren't.

If you are selected as a juror, you get to hear the instructions to jurors, which is quite enlightening. Those instructions really made a good impression on me. Did you know that an accused person never has to say a word in his defense? If a person accuses someone of something, it is up to the accuser to prove his case, beyond a shadow of a doubt, or he fails to make the accusation stick. I would apply that to any situation, inside or outside of court. But, I don't talk to too many people, refuse to engage in gossip and hate arguing, so I never see accusations fly.

On the lighter side, if your employer pays for you to be at court, there are some neat opportunities to get to know lots of new faces - people from lots of different walks of life. And, you can get caught up on some reading or playing puzzles while you're waiting to be called. Nice to just lay back for a while.


Patty

There are other countries that are MUCH better than America, like Canada, Italy, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand. None of them have a terrorist murderer for a president and none of them have jury duty.

Click to expand...

USA (Down with America!)

Click to expand...

Embarrased to be an American

Click to expand...

Excuse me, Sky, but why are you here? If America is that bad, you're free to leave at any time, are you not?

The list if countries to choose from is practically endless, and each one has better features than the last. Somalia is a good choice for the plethora of good resturants, Saudi Arabia is known for its religious diversity, and of course, North Korea is unparalleled for personal freedom. Cuba is a good choice for variety of candidates come election time, and the People's Republic of China can guarantee your freedom of speech and expression.

Need help with that plane ticket?

To Patty:

Your post was wonderful, and quite enlightening. I ALWAYS viewed Jury Duty as an educational experience.

However, one slight correction: the prosecutor is required to prove guilt beyond a REASONABLE doubt. Slight difference.

But one of the most informative bits of information I learned was the business about the accused NOT having to testify. In fact, the last jury I served on, the accused actually did not. And we found him "Not Guilty," because there were just too many holes in the prosecution's case.


Peace be with you,
~VOW

Thanks, Vow, for the correcting my verbage.

You're right. It's beyond a reasonable doubt, not beyond a shadow of a doubt.

And, when this philosophy is applied to everyday life, wow!! what a difference it makes in quashing arguments before they even have a chance to begin!!


Patty

Originally posted by Wolseley
Excuse me, Sky, but why are you here? If America is that bad, you're free to leave at any time, are you not?

The list if countries to choose from is practically endless, and each one has better features than the last. Somalia is a good choice for the plethora of good resturants, Saudi Arabia is known for its religious diversity, and of course, North Korea is unparalleled for personal freedom. Cuba is a good choice for variety of candidates come election time, and the People's Republic of China can guarantee your freedom of speech and expression.

Need help with that plane ticket?

Click to expand...

Whoa, Wolseley!!

Language here!!

That's too close for comfort.

One of the things listed in the U.S. Constitution is Freedom of Speech.

Not everyone here likes everything that's going on. I don't. However, there are too many voices that are not able to be heard, like Sky's.

Maybe if the Silent Majority were actually heard, things would be a lot better. And, far, far better for a dissident to speak up than to hold his silence. There's just far too much suppression of dissidence in this country as it is.

A man can love his country and still wish for improvement.

God bless Sky for his courageousness, I say.

Patty

Originally posted by Patty
Whoa, Wolseley!!

Language here!!

That's too close for comfort.

One of the things listed in the U.S. Constitution is Freedom of Speech.

Not everyone here likes everything that's going on. I don't. However, there are too many voices that are not able to be heard, like Sky's.

Maybe if the Silent Majority were actually heard, things would be a lot better. And, far, far better for a dissident to speak up than to hold his silence. There's just far too much suppression of dissidence in this country as it is.

A man can love his country and still wish for improvement.

God bless Sky for his courageousness, I say.

Patty

Click to expand...

Patty,

I agree fully with freedom of speech.  I am against censorship.  I also agree that there are many ways the US could improve.  What I don't like are people who complain about things without making any effort to change them.  Every year the voting age population increases, yet fewer and fewer people are registering to vote.  It seems to be the younger population that is quick to complain, but slow to punch a ballot. 

As Christians, we should be doing our part to make America a better place to live, not just complaining about it.  If going to jury duty to give someone a fair trial helps society, then we should do so. 

Hey Dewjunkie,

Thanks for the response. I concur with the points that you've made.

There are pros and cons to probably every issue one can list. And, it makes it tough to discuss sometimes. That's probably why genteel folks say not to argue religion or politics.

What can a person do, though, in some cases?

Let me give you an example of what's going on here where I live. The community I live in has a population of about 2,500. Most of them are 'snowbirds' from northern states and Canada, who are here only in the winter.

The rest of us are full-time residents who live on large acreage (the place where I live has 10 acres and 2 houses. On this mile-long street, there are only a dozen houses). I don't know but one neighbor. It's a real safe agriculturally zoned wilderness. The closest real store is 11 miles away, in any direction. It's in the foothills.

However, down road a piece are numerous bustling cities. There's lots of construction of time-shares going up down there in the main valley. Yet, there's still lots of open desert left.

Get this: I live on the edge of a large area designated as a wildlife refuge. A big corporation decided it wanted to build a Del Webb-type massive time-share community on part of the wildlife refuge. That means that the area will soon be heavily congested with traffic, convenience stores and traffic lights.

The full-time residents of this community that I've talked to are adamantly opposed to the development. Everyone here likes the peace and serenity. Yet, who is making the decisions for the development? Folks who don't even live here in the valley full-time. And, non-residents from the lower valley area who already live in congestion. And, a big business that wants cheap land to make a windfall profit at the expense of our peace and quiet. And, a politician who's going to listen to the big businessman before he hears from the residents.

It ain't right. No matter what we'd do, we can't prevail in this fight. It's already decided.

No more quiet little town. And why? Because somebody wants to make a fast buck.

Most of the places they're building already in the lower valley go unoccupied for half the year. And, so many new developments are going up, I can't even imagine how they could have buyers for them all.

When I moved here in '87, there was NO SMOG. Now, it's really crappy.

What can anyone do against the fast buck artists and politicians? The politician, once in office, does what he darn well pleases.

There's more I could say, but, 'nuff said.


Patty

My husband recently got summoned, but he was excused because he has retractable (SP?) epilepsy. However, if I got summoned, I wouldn't get out of it, I don't think, because my epilepsy is more controlled (I can drive, work full-time, etc.)

Just show up in an executioners hood or a star trek uniform or a pink ballerina costume etc.

They will usually send you home pretty quick.

To DJ:

If going to jury duty to give someone a fair trial helps society, then we should do so.

Click to expand...

Absolutely.

I'm willing to bet if Smurfy's house were to catch on fire, she'd be on the phone to 911. If her grandfather had a heart attack, she'd sure want the EMTs to show up. I'm willing to bet she likes driving on the Interstate, having clean drinking water, and knowing that if she goes to the market to buy a five-pound sack of flour, it's going to weigh at least five pounds, and it's not going to have plaster, sand, or poison in it.

Paying taxes, voting, and serving on jury duty are all parts of citizen obligations for the products of day-to-day living the government gives us.



Peace be with you,
~VOW