Have you ever had jury duty?
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
United States
April 26, 2007 8:36am CST
My wife and I have both had jury duty. Comparing notes we both found the same flaw in the system. This is the flaw.
It is almost impossible to pick 12 people at random today and not get at least one naive person who in general is sympathetic to the criminal and against the police.
Here is the url for a case where there apparently was more than one such juror.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/wyff/20070426/lo_wyff/13089328
What do you say? Ever had jury duty? Do you think the jury system has problems? What are they? Do you have any ideas of how the jury system could be improved?
3 people like this
5 responses
@speedy1279 (2665)
• United States
26 Apr 07
No not yet, but I have know a few people who keep getting picked for jury duty over and over again. I dread the day that I get picked because I am a stay at home mom and would not have anyone to watch my kids because everyone I know works. But I am sure one of these days I will get picked. Hopefully it is once my kids are in school then it wouldn't be so hard.
2 people like this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
26 Apr 07
If you do get summoned, I hope you are able to serve. It is an incredible learning experience. I came away with a lot less confidence in lawyers and judges. The police actually looked pretty good. They being the unsung people taking the risk and getting no credit while the lawyers screwed everything up.
3 people like this
@syndibee (799)
• United States
24 Jul 07
i just did jury duty and told the judge of my concern about child care because i am also a stay at home mom with no one to care for my 16 month old child. the judge just told me to make arrangements, i was upset and had no idea what i would do. i ended up having my 13 year old stepdaughter watch my son, though she was wonderful i really wasn't comfortable with such a young child watching the baby. yet my husband can't get out of his job because i have jury duty. it was tough.
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
11 Jul 07
My husband was summoned once and went; but, was never selected. I have not even been summoned for jury duty.
Part of the problem is that a jury is NOT truly random. Even if you are summoned, a lot of people do their best to get out of serving. Of the ones that do show up; the lawyers from both sides are allowed to "question" them and dismiss a certain number. Obviously they are trying to get ones that will be sympathetic to their side of the case.
Maybe, they should just have "professional jurors". It would give more people a job and stop pulling people off of jobs for trials they have no interest in.
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
12 Jul 07
I'm sure most lawyers oppose the idea of professional jurors. Lawyers want jurors they can fool and mislead. Professionals would learn the system with experience and could not be so easily "conned". I firmly believe lawyers want unknowledgable jurors.
2 people like this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
12 Jul 07
Arg..Ugh... OOPS! I explained myself horribly with an incomplete thought. Sorry about that. You are of course, correct. I was trying to point out a reason why we could not get the idea adapted. I totally agree that we don't care if the lawyers don't like it. I mis-spoke. I was thinking too many things at once and my thoughts came out jumbled. I do this all the time.
1 person likes this
@speakeasy (4171)
• United States
12 Jul 07
Of course, they do. But, you asked how to improve the jury system; not, how to make the lawyers happy.
1 person likes this
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
12 Jul 07
I hate to admit this but I've ducked jury duty three or four times. (The notice ALWAYS comes at the wrong time and I beg off)...I have a feeling getting a naive person or two in there is the way it's supposed to work. Convicting someone of a crime and sentencing them is serious stuf and somebody on thee jury has to present the case for the accused and make everybody think a bit. (But How would I know. I never did jury duty!)
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
12 Jul 07
Jury duty is very educational. I hope you get to serve some day.
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@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
11 Jul 07
I remember my dad said he was summoned by the court in my homeland to testify, so not as a jury. He didn't talk much about it so we don't know anything about the case and what was the result. I never go to court before, but I'm sure we don't have jury system, only I don't know what to call it. There is the police, the evidence, the lawyers, the judge and the accused, that's it. I've watched some movies here with court scenes, I was thinking what if you have dishonest people there as jury?
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
11 Jul 07
The reasoning behind having a jury system resides in the belief that 12 people chosen at random are far less likely to be dishonest than any 12 lawyers or judges chosen at random.
As a general rule, I absolutely agree that 12 random people are more likely to be honest than 12 random lawyers.
3 people like this
@coconutpatty (834)
• United States
26 Apr 07
I got summoned for jury duty one. But I no longer lived in the county and they could not make me drive 6 hours to be there. So I was off the hook. I think in cities it would be different. But in small towns, how do they pick people who would be unbiased. In small towns everyone knows everyone and is probably related to half of the people. I think they should get people from further away to try to eliminate that. I would have been dismissed anyway once they found out I went to school for Criminal Investigation and my thoughts on everything. haha
1 person likes this
@redyellowblackdog (10629)
• United States
26 Apr 07
What they do here in the county where I live (10,000 people in the entire county; largest town = 1500) is if the crime is serious enough and the person is well known enough, there is a change of venue. We trade cases with other counties that have the same problem.
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