Civic Duty

[valley]

When I worked for the county I wanted to serve on a jury but they always got me off. Now I get summons one after another. Last month I had two summons a week apart both letters came a week apart. The trials have always been settled and I have never served.
There was a time when everyone served without pay like a town hall meeting. Now everyone is paid except the juror and he or she may serve under duress.

 

[ronjhall]

About 15 years ago I got 3 different summons in less than 3 years. 2 for the Federal court in Detroit. 1 for the county. Sat on one jury for over a week. When it came time to deliberate I was chosen as the alternate juror and sent home. Kind of a waste of my time.
The other calls ended up being a waste of my time. Luckily my company made up the difference in pay when on jury duty.
Since I retired I got one call for jury duty while we were wintering in the south. Sent in a request for different date. They accepted but have never called me again.
I enjoyed being on the jury. Would do it again if I got another summons when I am not traveling.

 

[Erik_in_Hoyt]

I've been called to serve in the pool about 8 times in 12 years.
summoned twice -- once as alternate and once dismissed from selection.
only one of these times has my supervisor requested I be excused from the pook due to a major project going on - and while I understood the stated logic, it bugged me because I knew she did it because she does not believe in serving herself, so she could not tolerate the idea that I might actually get called.
OT - I read Starship Troopers at 14 or 15 and enlisted at 17, because i, too, agreed with the idea of "earning my rights". I also noted the bit in the book where it talked about people who did not want to be citizens because of the resposibiliies associated with it.

 

[riptides]

I for one am grateful that I can have a jury of "my peers" available should I get into some trouble. I am glad they are from "all walks of life". I am glad that they may not be happy being there, that "may" afford me some clear thought from them. And I am glad to be a citizen of this country with no strings attached. I think others have afforded me this citizenship and I am grateful for it, and them.

 

[20 20]

So lets say you serve your duty, you're mad because it was your time wasted etc. Now the trial is over and Slappy the criminal gets a slap on the wrist any way. IT is an overall waste in the end because of a messed up justice system. I feel for the {honest} police officers in this country. They throw themselfs out there to protect and serve, just to watch a system with a boat load of loop holes set half these_______ free or atleast with a very unjust sentence. The whole kitankobotal needs a MAJOR overhaul!!!!

Riptides; YOUR NUTZ

 

[dmccarty]

I think that we give rights and privileges away too cheaply in this country. Robert Heinlein wrote a book called Starship Troopers in which the were two types of citizens; those who could vote and those who could not. In this book the only way to getting voting rights was to have served in the Military or some other form of public service. How interesting it would be to have a systems were our "rights" were earned rather then granted.

Well I will be danged!

I was thinking of Starship Troopers early in this thread but did not mention it.

The framers had long discussions on who should be a citizen. One of the ideas was that you had to own property to be able to vote but that idea was eventually discarded. Another concern of the framers was the possibility of the voters forming a block that would enrich themselves via taxes at the expense of a smaller group of citizens.

As I get older I think I start to lean towards the requirement to own property to vote but on the other hand I would think most of the voters in my county are land owners and they are still daft.

The more I chew over our Constitution the more I think the founders got it right the first time.

By the way do not bother renting the Starship Troopers movie. The only think it has in common with the book is the title. The book basically has two sections. One is the political discourse concerning citizenship and service. The second part of the book is regarding fighting the insect like aliens by humans in powered armor suits. "Bugs, Mr. Rico. Zillions of em!"

Starship Troopers - Wikiquote has some typical Heinlein character dialog/quotes. I may have to go dig the book out of the box in the barn. The link says that Starship Troopers is the only SF book on the reading list at four of the five military academies. I never knew that one.

Starship Troopers is a very short book. It can't be much more than 200 pages but it has some very interesting ideas. Heinlein would have a field day with PC if he was still alive.

Later,
Dan

 

[Chuck52]

This must be one of those things where my area excels! Here, you get a jury notification, but just have to call an automated number to see if you really have to show up. I've had two or three notifications of possible jury duty, but I've never actually had to go in. They cycle through the jury pool list, which I guess is based on the voter rolls or tax rolls or something, and if you get notified of potential duty, even though you don't have to go in, your name goes to the end of the list again. I'd like to finally get to go in for duty sometime. In my job, I'd get paid anyway....one advantage of being a state employee! On the other hand, I might not make it through the questioning stage, because I do have problems with the way things work in court. I really have problems with the ability of a judge to cite anyone for contempt of court and jail them, more-or-less indefinitely. Were I asked, I'd probably have to admit a certain contempt for parts of the legal process! We recently had a murder case near here where the actual murderer was determined by the testimony of his two accomplices. I have no problem with his being found guilty, but I figure they should all get the same sentence. I suppose it was necessary to establish which one actually pulled the trigger, but since it was a home invasion and all three crooks participated of their own free will, I don't see the necessity. They were all there to do the crime, and there was no evidence the other two objected to the shooting.

Chuck

 

[riptides]

Heard in a court room -

Judge - "Can you think of any reason why you should not be selected?"

Potential Juror - "No, they would not be here if they were not guilty."

 

[buckeyefarmer]

The more I chew over our Constitution the more I think the founders got it right the first time.

But lawyers and judges sure have messed that up. Criminals and Illegals have more rights than those that follow the law.

 

[Sigarms]

Personally, never been called for jury duty.

Funny story, the police today thought perhaps something happened to my father (he was up fishing around lake Erie and no one in town knew about it). They ended up getting into the house to call my wife, who called me, in turn, I called my dads fishing buddy whose cell phone number I have. They (dad and his buddies) were on the way back home (my dad in another vehicle). I told my dad's buddy about the police story and the call. Talked with my dad tonight, and he thought I was playing a practicle joke telling his buddy the police had to "break into" his house (small town does has its advantages).

Reason why I mentioned this was because after our conversation about the hoopla surrounding his wearabouts, he mentioned to me that my mom just got a summons in the mail to be on Jury duty.

My mom has been dead for a good five years now.