| Monday, November 05, 2007 |
| Civic duty |
Regular readers know that jury duty is an annual tradition for me. I was especially concerned about having to go in this year, because I had been summoned to the far-off Superior Court in Hayward instead of the more conveniently located, BART-friendly courthouse in Oakland. Well, I'm pleased to note that while I did have to haul my butt down to Hayward and spend a while sitting around the jury room, I was eventually excused. Even though it's supposed to be a random selection, it seems like the vast majority of the names called were from the beginning of the alphabet -- there were lots of Cs and only one other T called, for instance.
On the back of my jury form, which I had to turn in when I reported, there was a space for change of address. I duly filled it out, so they can know where to send the summons in the fall of 2008. I never get tired of watching that inspiring video they always show, "Ideals Made Real"! And if I ever do make it onto a jury, that $15 a day payment will be quite a windfall!
The person who was in charge of giving us our instructions told us that even though they only needed jurors for one trial, they overbook "just like the airlines" because about 50% of people summoned just don't show up. I wonder what happens to those folks? Is there really a penalty? According to this 2004 article from the East Bay Express, the court can fine no-shows up to $1,500, though at least back then, it sounds like there wasn't a lot of enforcement going on.
Googling "how to get out of jury duty" yields a bounty of hits -- "You need to present yourself as unstable and stubborn to avoid any and all jury duty," suggests this article, and this one (by a two-time juror who feels "only embarrassment at having my time stolen from me with no compensation given")" is pretty funny. Unfortunately, I'm such a good little citizen that I'll probably keep showing up. At least I was able to get through a bunch of the book I'm reading, Michael Chabon's The Yiddish Policeman's Union. |
posted by 125records @ 4:05 PM  |
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| 2 Comments: |
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I was supposed to report for jury duty (at the same Hayward Superior Court) while I was out of the country last month, and forgot to send in the thing that said I couldn't make it, so I guess I'm in the 50% that "just didn't show up". If pressured, I could always claim my summons was lost in the mail. I've been summoned every year since I've been here, and have never come close to being selected for a trial.
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I don't have the nerve to be a complete asshole like that just to get out of jury duty. My last one last an entire afternoon and now I'm good for three years.
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I was supposed to report for jury duty (at the same Hayward Superior Court) while I was out of the country last month, and forgot to send in the thing that said I couldn't make it, so I guess I'm in the 50% that "just didn't show up". If pressured, I could always claim my summons was lost in the mail. I've been summoned every year since I've been here, and have never come close to being selected for a trial.