It arrived, my summons to JURY DUTY

Ugh.... Is there EVER a good time? How bad is it really? Anyone know?

Never a good time, but one of our obligations as citizens. I've been called three times in over 40 years of being an adult on the voting rolls. First time, early 70's, I went down and was dismissed summarily in a civil case as I was a law student at the time. Second time, dismissed for cause (had formed an opinion about the case). Third time, no challenges from either side. Short criminal trial, real short deliberation, had to stand up and deliver the guilty verdict. We didn't know prior acts of course, that three time loser went away for life.

Boils down to whether it is a local or federal call and what type of case. Lost a guy to one of the first asbestos litigation's for almost a year

Lots of waiting the first day, take a book, our courthouse doesn't allow cameras, so long walk back to the car to ditch the cellphone. Funny watching the cell-less in the jury pool trying to figure out what to do with their time sans electronic pacifyers ..

Are you being called to a Petit Jury, or a Grand Jury? City, County, State, or Federal?

The rules and regulations vary greatly depending on what jurisdiction you live in. There is a good chance that just because you are summoned, you may not need to serve. You call a phone number the night before to see if your Juror Number is on the list that is needed to report the next day.

Read the summons carefully. There may be a website mentioned that will have an FAQ.

Jury Duty is not hard to get out of if you can prove that being there will be a hardship. If you will lose a day's pay sitting there, that's a hardship. If you are a caretaker for a family member that can't do without you for a day, that qualifies. If you are in certain professions, that will disqualify you. So will having a criminal record.

Just don't blow it off. If you want an exemption or a delay, follow through with the documentation needed to get one. If you just ignore it and don't show up when called, there will likely be a Bench Warrant issued for Contempt of Court. You don't want to go there.

If you do have to go, bring along something to pass the time. Books, magazines, a deck of cards, a Rubik's cube, crossword puzzles, anything you've got that will keep you from going bonkers while you sit and sit and sit and wait. There's a lot of waiting going on. You will probably not be allowed to bring in your cellphone, so make arrangements to leave it at home or in the car. If you can, pack along some snacks and drinks and candy, If you're a smoker, you can figure on only being allowed to smoke when you break for lunch, so count on going about 4 hours in between cigarettes. If you're on certain prescription medicines, be sure to bring what you need.

I've been on Petit Jury duty several times, and Grand Jury for a period of 4 months straight. I liked it, but most people don't. On Petit Jury, it was mostly just sitting and waiting for a whole day in case a trial came up. I got to hear one case that lasted 3 days, and it was pretty boring. The Grand Jury was more interesting, but this was 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for 4 months, and we heard cases all the time.

I think it depends on your state. Here in California, the process varies pretty widely by county.

Much as I want to do my Civic duty, my first trial (in LA County) was attempted murder of a Police Officer by 3 "gentlemen" that were part of an "organization". When reading the charges, I heard a lot of "to wit ... AK47 ... to wit ... AR15" which freaked me out. Fortunately I appeared sufficiently conservative that the defense team thanked me and excused me forthwith.

If you know the process, and can work the angles, you may be able to minimize the pain.

Good luck! I've never been called.
I'm hoping the little mixup in the "system" that says I have a "felony" even though I know for sure I do not (1. I think I would definitely know that. 2. I recently purchased a handgun) Keeps me out of contention.

It sucks getting called for it, you can delay it by asking or by proving it would be a hardship but you can only do that so many times before you have to do it. Once you get there and get past thinking about all of the things that you could be and would rather be doing instead it can be interesting if you get put on a case. You'll sit in a big room watching daytime television waiting to be called for a case and you might not even get one on a given day. If you do it's interesting though.

I got two cases when I got called years ago, one was for promoting prostitution (some for guy being a pimp, I won't get into the details there but that one was way interesting, almost like one of those cop shows on tv) and the other was someone suing their employer for wrongful termination (kinda boring). If you do get to jury deliberations you'll get to meet a bunch of people who all lack common sense and completely throw away all sense of logic, but it's a good experience overall.

I remember on the wrongful termination one when we were about to break for lunch the judge gave us about 90 minutes and one lady (Juror #6) told the Judge that she might be a little late getting back. Judge say "oh yeah, why's that" and the lady told her that she had a lot of shopping to do and might not be able to get it all done in 90 minutes. The Judge explained the way the legal system works (these are attorneys, this is the plaintiff, you have a very important job, blah, blah, blah, etc) and told her not to be back even one minute late because she had a very important role. When we came back from lunch there was no Juror #6. The Judge was quite angry to say the least asking the Baliff if she was clear in delivering her message to Juror #6. The lady shows up an hour and fifteen minutes late carrying Dillards and Nordstrom bags full of stuff, like 15 bags. The Judge took her into her chambers and we could hear her screaming at this woman. She comes back into court without juror # 6 and tells us that she feels better now that she found her in contempt of court and fined her $500 since that ought to slow down her shopping a bit. I guess you just can't fix stupid but it made for an interesting day.

I've been called three times, but I've never served.

Once, the jury was impaneled before they got to me.

Twice got into the jury box. Excused once because a fellow juror told me that she had already decided the guy was guilty, before the trial even began. My reward for turning her in was that I was excused myself.

The other case, I was asked if I belonged to any organizations "like the NRA or the ACLU." I mentioned my membership in Death Penalty Focus, a California organization dedicated to getting rid of capital punishment. The prosecutor threw me out in a nanosecond.

My new apartment is across the street from the courthouse, which would be handy, as I don't drive. I'd like to serve on a short trial.

Bring three books.

Federal grand jury duty is what is painful. My wife got it a few years ago and had to report to the Boston federal courthouse one day a week for 3 months. They used to make people do it all in consecutive days but realized it created too much of a hardship on them so they moved it to the one day a week format.

Also in MA, you are to call the courthouse the day before your appearance is scheduled and they let you know by phone if they already have enough jurors, so there is the possibility you never have to even show up. I think states vary in that respect though.

Let your employer know immediately and see what policies they have regarding jurors. Most companies will continue to pay your normal salary so that you can complete your Civic Responsibilities. Find out what paperwork they need. Most courts will give you an attendance slip if your employer needs it.

Some jurisdictions give Jurors a token Per Diem, maybe $10 a day. Your employer may require that you turn this over to them, since you are still drawing your regular paycheck. You might get a voucher for lunch at the courthouse cafeteria, or coupons for discounts at nearby restaurants. Every jurisdiction is different in how they compensate the Jury Pool, but many don't give you anything at all.

I've been called 3 times. Twice I spent a week in the jury pool reading. I like to read so that wasn't bad. Once I spent a week listening to two insurance companies argue about who was more incompetent. That was somehow both fascinating and excruciatingly boring. In all Cases it created no problems for my employer or my wages. If you have an actual serious reason you can't go, you can often get a postponement, but I think it's usually best to just get it over with if you can. I think I postponed once due to finals if memory serves.

Well I guess if you mention that you collect razors they just might ask you to leave.

Been called three times, been exempt due to what I have access to at work three times. You think they'd keep records of this.

I always state I am Pro-Death Penalty, even in misdemeanors and traffic offenses.

I wonder why they always send me home?

Do not ever mention
Jury nullification
cases include State of Georgia v. Brailsford, 3 U.S. 1, 4 (1794); U.S. v. Moylan, 417 F.2d 1002 (4th Cir.1969); United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113; United States v. Wilson, 629 F.2d 439, 443 (6th Cir.1980); US v. Krzyske, 836 F. 2d 1013 - Court of Appeals, 6th Circuit 1988; and U.S. v. Thomas No. 95-1337 (2nd Cir. 5-20-97)

Generally the courts hate this because you might be a giant pain in there plan.

need more ?
Incarceration in the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incarceration_in_the_United_States

and bring up Private prisons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_prison
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-pr...es-big-business-or-a-new-form-of-slavery/8289

then just were a rage against the machine tee shirt.

Jury duty is not bad. Definitely a civic duty to be served with pride. Here, the policy is "one day or one trial." So if you go and aren't empaneled, you are done.

I was on a jury in a civil case 20 years or so age and we reached a reasonable verdict, so that was a good experience.

Thanks to my medical condition, I am now permanently exempt from jury duty . . . more specifically, the process of selecting one. not that I would avoid doing my civic duty, simply that my condition is such that it could be disruptive to court proceedings.

Like others have said, do your duty, take a book. And, if you decide you want to avoid the whole thing, there are several ways to have yourself excused without consequence that have already be mentioned.

I just finished a 6 week stint on a petit jury. I was only called one day and quickly dismissed because I knew one of the witnesses.

I've had to serve twice in the last few years.

As other's have said, bring a book because there is going to be some sitting. Don't count on having access to your cell phone if you get selected.

If you really want to get out of it, I'm sure you can. Before you go down that track, consider this. Do you really want crimes (if it is a criminal trial) being tried in front of juries full of people too dumb to get out of serving?

My two cases were for:
- drug bust
- murder trial

The drug bust took 2.5 days (half day includes the selection process. I was an alternate juror, so I had to be there but didn't get any say in the matter. As frustrating as it was, I elected to hang around for a bit and got to talk with the prosecuting attorney and the detective while the jury was deliberating. That was a really cool experience.

The murder trial was sad. Young woman in her 20s was a pub and prematurely gave birth to a very sick baby while in the bathroom. Instead of going for help, she wrapped the baby in a plastic bag and hid it in the toilet tank. She had already pleaded guilty to murder, so our decision was to determine whether it was murder in the 1st or 3rd. As part of her plea deal, she waived her right to appeal.

So many people from the pool stated they had already formed an opinion, we actually ended up with a constable in our jury. Here I thought being an LEO would have put him on the defenses must go list.

Get ready for a boring day. I get called so often that half the time I'm excused because it's within 3 years of my last time. I've had regular, grand (1 day a week for 18 weeks) and Federal Jury Duty (only went in 2 of the 30 days). I didn't mind as much when I worked because I got paid in full by my regular job. I have sat on a couple of one day civil cases, but mostly it's just a wasted day going up and down to the various court rooms. Once I almost sat on a major murder/home invasion case expected to take 2 months. The only reason I got excused was because I was scheduled to testify before another county judge (work related) the week the trial was due to start. I lucked out that time.

Interesting experience, part of being a citizen. Make the best of it.

If you really want to get out of it, show up wearing a toga.