Comments on: From Twitter, get-out-of-jury-duty tips https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/ Chronicling the high cost of our legal system Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:02:01 +0000 hourly 1 By: Jim Collins https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-74307 Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:02:01 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-74307 Almost everyplace that I have worked at has paid time off for jury duty. All you have to do is to sign the check that you are given over to the company and you are paid for the time. The only time that I have ever had a problem with jury duty was when I was in the pool for Federal Jury Duty. I had spent most of the past year training and qualifying to play in a tournament at the national level and had to drop out because I couldn’t guarentee being availible if I was needed for duty. I offered to let them extend the time I would be in the pool, but, they wouldn’t go for it. I never did get a call to report and missed the tournament.

]]> By: CarLit Guy https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73969 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:00:38 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73969 Jack,
while I am likely in the minority, I believe Jury Duty is just that, a Duty of citizenship – and a small price to pay for our right to a jury trial in many cases. That I am paid by the state in an amount less than the fees incurred for parking near the courthouse and the gas I used in travel to get there is immaterial to the performance of that duty.

]]> By: A.W. https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73964 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:53:38 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73964 has anyone ever tried suing to enforce the minimum wage act for jurors?

I know we are ordinarily agains t lawsuits here, but that would be fun to try.

]]> By: Joseph https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73960 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:43:16 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73960 In my county those tips might get you off of a jury, but not out of jury duty. Around here you have to go downtown and sit in the county courthouse for a week whether or not you are actually selected for a jury.

I have been called for jury duty several times. The new jurors arrive in a bad mood and grumbling about having to give up a week of their time, but at the end of the week almost unanimously those who served on a jury say it was a worthwhile experience and are glad they did it.

]]> By: Jack Olson https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73959 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:25:24 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73959 Then, why do people want to get out of jury duty in the first place? Because it is a costly interruption of their employment and a burdensome interruption of their lives. If selected for a jury, you could be tied up for months, paid a pittance for your trouble, and watch a judge overturn the verdict or sentence you labored to deliver.

If you are called for jury duty in my jurisdiction, you are paid $6 per day for the first day, which will barely pay for your parking at the courthouse. Each additional day, you are paid $40, which is well below the federal minimum wage. Meanwhile, the judge gets paid $600-700 per day and each of the lawyers gets paid $2,000. No wonder people try to shun jury duty, when it means being treated like a peon.

]]> By: D https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73958 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:15:39 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73958 Correction, plaintiff would have more strikes. Defense had to use his on the “fry ’em” crowd.

]]> By: D https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73957 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:13:28 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73957 I knew we would immediately digress into sharing our own experiences. Well, I don’t want to be left out, so… Last time I was called up, I was way too close to the front row, the weather that week was beautiful (rare around here), and it was an incest case. I could cite examples favoring either side for each question the councils put to us, so I simply chose to cite examples favoring the defense. Defense would tend to have more strikes in hand in a case like this, right? At some point in the afternoon, the plaintiff council called on me to answer his question by pointing to me and saying, “Let me guess, you have a friend who…” It worked like a charm.

]]> By: Peter Eipers https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73949 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 13:28:13 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73949 The Federal corruption trial of Birmingham Alabama Mayor Larry Langford began yesterday, and a jury was seated. Among Judge Coogler’s instructions to the jury, in addition to the usual admonitions to avoid news coverage, was to refrain from using social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter. As easy as this rule is to break, and as difficult as it is to enforce, I would think it provides ample material for automatic appeals.

]]> By: Ron Miller https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73943 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 10:40:56 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73943 These were all funny. In practice, people usually come up with stuff that is uniquely uncreative.

]]> By: kimsch https://www.overlawyered.com/2009/10/from-twitter-get-out-of-jury-duty-tips/comment-page-1/#comment-73931 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:06:38 +0000 http://overlawyered.com/?p=14293#comment-73931 My grandfather was a Chief of Police in Kalamazoo and Denver. Prosecution loves me. Defense uses a challenge I get excluded.

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