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Well, I tried to duck, dodge and evade, but I got picked for Jury Duty today. Starting Monday, and until the 13th of March, I will be serving on a jury in a lawsuit. Obviously, because it is a case in deliberation, I can't talk about it, but I can say it is nothing even remotely exciting or juicy.

My hours should be 8:30AM to about 2:30 or 4:00 pm, US Mountain Standard Time. So I won't be here to crack the whip on you when you get out of line. I'm sure other Mods and Supermods/Governors will be more than happy to break out the lash, however, as needed.

I won't be off the board entirely, but my usual hours will be curtailed. I'll still check in, probably, in early mornings before I go to the courthouse, though.

So... behave! Or I hear that Hotfoot has a jar a Vaseline with sand in it for you.

Truth be told, I somewhat envy you.

I got called for jury duty, but I had no choice but to duck it because I couldn't handle the finicial strain it would've put on me.

I actually wasn't happy about that; I was interested in learning about our justice system via actually being part of the process, plus I'd like to think it would've exercised my critical thinking skills.

lol, guess they didn't ask you if you believed in capital punishment, or you'd be out. Or it's not against a war protester, or you'd be out.

Nah. Couple business partners screwing each other over and spreading slander about each other. I actually don't mind the idea of serving on a jury, and I can absorb the financial strain fairly well right now, but there is a mild pain-in-the-butt factor. Other people were interviewed that were in bad shape (full-time students, single moms, chronic medical conditions, etc) so I couldn't in good conscience make too much effort to get out of it. It was purely a convenience angle on my part.

Aren't jury members compensated for the full worth of their salary while on duty? I seem to recall hearing about that at one point, and it seems absurd otherwise anyway.

No. It varies by state and by case.


Jury selection and duty is quite a joke anyway - when I did an internship with one of the best defence lawyers in the USA, he remarked that he didn't really bother with Jury selection. He just asked the prosecutor if he would be okay with the first people who walked in.

Faqa wrote:Aren't jury members compensated for the full worth of their salary while on duty? I seem to recall hearing about that at one point, and it seems absurd otherwise anyway.

Are you kidding? Jury members get paid peanuts, if at all. If the city had to pay members the full worth of their salary they'd never get anyone.

Someone once said something about getting judged by a bunch of people who weren't clever enough to get out of jury duty. I can't remember what it was.

It's $10.00 a day here. Some businesses continue to pay your full salary, some give you a percentage, some don't give you anything. I'm actually unsure how Federal employment does it; I'll have to ask my supervisor.

Coyote wrote:It's $10.00 a day here. Some businesses continue to pay your full salary, some give you a percentage, some don't give you anything. I'm actually unsure how Federal employment does it; I'll have to ask my supervisor.

That won't even cover lunch. Jesus craps, the least they could do is give you some vouchers for Mr. Sub or something.

$10 covers lunch just fine here, even without resorting to super-cheap fast food.

I think federal courts pay like $40 a day, they also will pay for parking and if I remember right they may even offer an extra bit of cash for lunch. Twice now (over two years) they've sent me a letter saying "congrats, you're selected!" and then when I called the night before to confirm, I was told that my jury group didn't have to report in.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed. A federal case is probably somewhat more interesting than, say, a county case - and my employer pays people who are called to jury duty so it's not like I'd lose out on pay. That said I was also a bit relieved, they keep getting ready to call me to jury duty at the worst/busiest time of year for my job.

I don't remember how much I got paid the time I was selected for jury duty. I'm thinking $20/day, plus some small rate per mile traveled to cover gas, though it could have been $40; it's confusing because I was there a day and a half and I don't know how that counts. I definitely remember the extra bit for covering mileage, though.

Also I wasn't selected for the jury. None of us were. My whole panel got thrown out because the defense said they couldn't get a fair jury out of the lot of us. I suspect it was engineered that way from the start because that entire day and a half was us getting questioned by the defense on our entire life stories, but that's a different story.

Uraniun235 wrote:$10 covers lunch just fine here, even without resorting to super-cheap fast food.

Depends I guess. At a decent deli, that's pushing it. I can get a good entre for eight bucks but add a coke in there and you're above it.

Thanas wrote:Jury selection and duty is quite a joke anyway - when I did an internship with one of the best defence lawyers in the USA, he remarked that he didn't really bother with Jury selection. He just asked the prosecutor if he would be okay with the first people who walked in.

Really? I thought Jury selection was Serious Business, like in a John Grisham novel or something.

I's done! They settled a bunch of stuff out of court when it became clear that the Plaintiffs hadn't done their homework, so the lawyers played "let's make a deal". We were in deliberation by Friday and handed the verdict by 5pm that day.

Not bad. Interesting, in that it was part of the financial/real estate meltdown, even though a lot of it was accounting and kinda dull in that respect.

Cpl Kendall wrote:

Coyote wrote:It's $10.00 a day here. Some businesses continue to pay your full salary, some give you a percentage, some don't give you anything. I'm actually unsure how Federal employment does it; I'll have to ask my supervisor.

That won't even cover lunch. Jesus craps, the least they could do is give you some vouchers for Mr. Sub or something.

Where the hell do you people eat? I can get a 6" Sub sandwich, fountain drink, and a bag of chips for less than $7 CAD.

Ryan Thunder wrote: Where the hell do you people eat? I can get a 6" Sub sandwich, fountain drink, and a bag of chips for less than $7 CAD.

Any type of real restaurant that isn't a chain or fast food will cost you more than $10 per one person if you want anything close to a full meal. If you want, say, anything resembling a decent quality steak, expect to pay at least $15.

General Zod wrote:

Ryan Thunder wrote: Where the hell do you people eat? I can get a 6" Sub sandwich, fountain drink, and a bag of chips for less than $7 CAD.

Any type of real restaurant that isn't a chain or fast food will cost you more than $10 per one person if you want anything close to a full meal. If you want, say, anything resembling a decent quality steak, expect to pay at least $15.

Ah, that would do it. I tend to eat less than that for lunch. A 12" sub is usually approaching or exceeding "too much" for me.

Ryan Thunder wrote:

General Zod wrote:

Ryan Thunder wrote: Where the hell do you people eat? I can get a 6" Sub sandwich, fountain drink, and a bag of chips for less than $7 CAD.

Any type of real restaurant that isn't a chain or fast food will cost you more than $10 per one person if you want anything close to a full meal. If you want, say, anything resembling a decent quality steak, expect to pay at least $15.

Ah, that would do it. I tend to eat less than that for lunch. A 12" sub is usually approaching or exceeding "too much" for me.

It doesn't even have to be a lot of food really. All it takes is wanting to eat somewhere that isn't fast food fare or a chain restaurant. Of course for anyone making more than minimum wage a $15 lunch isn't too big of a deal.

General Zod wrote:

Ryan Thunder wrote: Where the hell do you people eat? I can get a 6" Sub sandwich, fountain drink, and a bag of chips for less than $7 CAD.

Any type of real restaurant that isn't a chain or fast food will cost you more than $10 per one person if you want anything close to a full meal. If you want, say, anything resembling a decent quality steak, expect to pay at least $15.

I guess I don't tend to consider steak a 'lunch' food.

Uraniun235 wrote:

General Zod wrote:

Ryan Thunder wrote: Where the hell do you people eat? I can get a 6" Sub sandwich, fountain drink, and a bag of chips for less than $7 CAD.

Any type of real restaurant that isn't a chain or fast food will cost you more than $10 per one person if you want anything close to a full meal. If you want, say, anything resembling a decent quality steak, expect to pay at least $15.

I guess I don't tend to consider steak a 'lunch' food.

Well, maybe more appropriate for dinner but you get the idea. $15 for a lunch is no big deal every once in awhile.