Jury duty

Lostlittlerobot said:

...(I asked why he pulled me over, my windshield has a crack, and he said get that fixed asap)...

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WAT! In Idaho the new cars on the dealer lot have cracked windscreens :lol:

Lostlittlerobot said:

133 is awesome! Tickets I've had range from 400 to 1500!.

Its a bit funny, I've only gotten out of one, you've gotten out of all but one!

My friends are all cops, and it makes my whole interactions with them worse for the most part! lol.

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You must be getting pulled over by the highway patrol. I've had 3 tickets, never more than $130, but they've all been city cops. The THP is pretty notorious for writing $400 tickets though.

DVC said:

DON'T.

You can only be dismissed from a jury by the COURT -- that is to say, the judge or a person acting at the judge's direction.

The cop who tells you to leave is no more the "court" than the ticket-taker at the Venetian is a member of the Blue Man Group.

If you are ever in this situation, tell the cop that the COURT has ordered you to appear, and ask him to provide a dismissal IN WRITING. He will probably kick it up the chain of command, and eventually someone will get a clerk to get that done.

My advice, however, is to not take a gun to court if called for jury duty. You never know what case you might be called for, and could be in a position of influence far beyond anything other chance that you will ever have.

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Very good points. I find myself wondering though, if you fail to appear because you're sitting in a police holding cell for contempt of cop, does the cop suffer the legal penalties for interfering with the court? I can just imagine being served with a bench warrant in the lockup...

Difdi said:

Very good points. I find myself wondering though, if you fail to appear because you're sitting in a police holding cell for contempt of cop, does the cop suffer the legal penalties for interfering with the court? I can just imagine being served with a bench warrant in the lockup...

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Being in jail is one of the few automatic excuses. Likewise being in the hospital for reasons beyond your control, being called up for active-duty military service, etc.

If you had a trip planned, and can prove that you A), made the arrangements prior to receiving the summons, B), the trip is required by your employer, or C), it is of an urgent nature (your mom is dying, for instance), these are NOT automatically excused, but will be excused when you provide the proof to the court upon your return. Again, these are outside of your control, and a reasonable person would accept them as being of greater priority.

The Big Guy said:

Very good point. Good people need to get on Juries. The influence we can exert is important in the maintaining and restoring of our rights. There truly is nothing a person can do to make a difference more beneficial then serving on important cases.

TBG

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Jury duty -- when performed by someone who takes the job seriously -- is the most important job that the average citizen can ever have. For that one moment, he or she is in CONTROL of the Judicial Branch of government. True, that control can be removed if they don't act responsibly (or if the judge doesn't), but the citizen has no greater tool against bad law than Jury Nullification.

I wish that I could serve on a jury, but having served as a judge I am not eligible. Even before that, no way would anyone have seated me, because A), my dad was a cop, B), my mom was a court reporter, C), her father was a cop, D), an uncle was asked by (then-Governor) Reagan to sit on "any court you choose" in the state of California, up to the CalSupremes, then later any Federal court (when Reagan was President), and E), I taught Officer Safety and Pursuit Driving at various schools. No defense attorney in the WORLD would let me on a jury with that kind of background!