I've been called a lot for jury duty, and only been an alternate once and that case got settled out of court. It's a crap shoot.
Heh. That was a drunk-driving case, back when I lived in New York. When they were seating the jury, they asked us if there were any reason we thought we might not be able to serve. The guy next to me volunteered that he did a lot of work with MADD, but he thought he'd be able to judge the case on the evidence. Well, I thought it only fair to let them know about my alcoholism, since it was a drunk driving case. I'd been in AA maybe 8 years at the time. Rather than tell the whole courtroom about it, I asked to approach the judge, and just tell her and the attorneys.
It was a cheesy little courtroom, by the way. Manhattan has crap courtrooms that look nothing like the ones you see on Law & Order, that's for sure. This one was more like a large meeting room in a midsized company that doesn't have the money to get decent furniture or change the fluorescent lights when they burned out.
Anyway, I told the judge and the attorneys about my alcoholism, and the judge asked if I thought I'd be able to judge the case fairly. I assured her I would.
My high school history teacher--lovely guy, if intensely conservative--served on a jury (and was the foreman, I think) for a personal injury(?) case. Hahaha, and they gave him a little certificate for participating, which he hung in the back of the room. One of my co-workers was on a jury once, too. Maybe they'll take anyone they can get in my area.
I've actually been to the court I think this'll be held at as part of a school field trip (we got to see the jail, too! w00t!). It's pretty nice--I mean, when I visited, it looked like a conference room, but a fairly comfortable one. Nicer than some of my college classrooms, that's for sure.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 11:21 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 11:24 pm (UTC)Alas.
I got called for jury duty while I was recovering from surgery. I promptly postponed it for 6 months. I know my duty as a citizen.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 11:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 11:37 pm (UTC)Heh. That was a drunk-driving case, back when I lived in New York. When they were seating the jury, they asked us if there were any reason we thought we might not be able to serve. The guy next to me volunteered that he did a lot of work with MADD, but he thought he'd be able to judge the case on the evidence. Well, I thought it only fair to let them know about my alcoholism, since it was a drunk driving case. I'd been in AA maybe 8 years at the time. Rather than tell the whole courtroom about it, I asked to approach the judge, and just tell her and the attorneys.
It was a cheesy little courtroom, by the way. Manhattan has crap courtrooms that look nothing like the ones you see on Law & Order, that's for sure. This one was more like a large meeting room in a midsized company that doesn't have the money to get decent furniture or change the fluorescent lights when they burned out.
Anyway, I told the judge and the attorneys about my alcoholism, and the judge asked if I thought I'd be able to judge the case fairly. I assured her I would.
"Lots of my friends are drunk drivers!"
Amazingly enough, they didn't disqualify me.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 11:48 pm (UTC)I've actually been to the court I think this'll be held at as part of a school field trip (we got to see the jail, too! w00t!). It's pretty nice--I mean, when I visited, it looked like a conference room, but a fairly comfortable one. Nicer than some of my college classrooms, that's for sure.
Hahahahahahahaha.