Jury Duty

This morning I had jury duty. It's the third time I've been called to serve. I've served once on a civil case, and today's call was for a civil case. I was dismissed after roughly three hours of voir dire. I think likely the defendant had me dismissed because I had vague experience with a claim similar to the one the plaintiff was lobbying. I had a kick in my step as I left the courtroom.

We were told the case would take 7 to 10 days. Frankly, it didn't sound all that compelling and the thought of rearranging my life for essentially two work weeks for it frustrated me a little. But the truth is, I don't mind serving on a jury. It's part of being a good citizen, yada, yada, yada. I just want the case to teach me something besides nuances in insurance claims.

I'm amazed that while I've been called a number of times, there are many of you who have never been called. I get that it's random, but after a couple of times can't there be a mark next to my name that says "She's done her time, only call her for something really good from now on."

How 'bout you? Ever been on a jury? Civil or criminal?

Comments

[cynthia]

i've never been called, and my husband also has been 3 times. he thinks its because there's something wrong with me.

[Misty]

Never been used. I'm kindof a nerd and secretly hope to be asked to do it one day. I know it's not always exciting. There's this lady where I work who keeps getting out of jury duty. She's retired, has no kids at home or anything and she refuses to serve. It makes me frustrated!

[Jody]

I was called once to be in the jury pool for criminal cases in New England, and was called out of the pool room and into a courtroom, but the first question they asked was the hardship question, and the babies were under 2 years old at the time, and the judge dismissed me right away, and gave me a letter that excused me from the pool room for the rest of the day, too.

I was called once to a criminal case here in the Southeast, and made it as far as being seated in the box. But I had a family member with similar problems to those of the accused, and his lawyer had me dismissed from the jury because of that.

I would just as soon serve on a jury at some point -- I think it would be cool.

[Christine]

Jody - it's not that cool. I thought the same thing and I was struck by how really dull most of the proceedings were.

Called 4 times, served once on a criminal case. The most recent time was the funniest - I was called to serve the day my baby was supposed to be born. I told them I'd be...busy. They agreed to reschedule me in a couple of months. I mentioned that maybe it would be a little hard, with a newborn and all? And they told me that was my problem.
Eventually, I did get excused, but only because I shouldn't have been called when I had served on a jury a year before.