jury duty calls
The Honorable Judge Wayne S. Timmerman of the 13th Judicial Circuit has summoned me to appear at the George E. Edgecomb Courthouse for jury service. From the summons:
Your name has been randomly selected by computer from the list provided by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (Drivers Licenses) or from those who have executed the affidavit prescribed in F.S. 40.011. The court realizes that jury service imposes a hardship on citizens. However, the right to trial by jury is one of the principles guaranteed by the constitution. It is the duty of every citizen to serve when called to do so.
Unfortunately, many people complain about how they can’t “waste their time” by serving on jury duty, and try to get out of it. It’s not like it is hard work. From the jury duty website:
Protection of our rights and liberty is achieved in large part through the teamwork of the judge and jury, who work together to practice the principles of our great heritage. Judges decide all issues of law and give jurors instructions as to the law applicable in the case. It’s your job to determine the facts of the case by actively listening to all the evidence and by determining the weight and credibility to be given to each of the witnesses’ testimony. You now have a direct hand in the administration of justice. Without you, the jury system cannot work the way the authors of our Constitution wanted. You don’t need any special skills or legal knowledge to be a juror. You do need to keep an open mind and be willing to make decisions free of your personal feelings and biases.
Of course, voting has even fewer restrictions, and many of you don’t do that, either.
By the way, thanks to Bright House Networks, the courthouse offers free wi-fi for jurors.
No tag for this post.
Loading ...
June 26th, 2008 at 7:27 am
As with voting, the ones who complain the loudest about the systems not working are all too often the ones who fail to participate.
I’ve only been called once, and that was in Alachua County. My fiance was called about a month ago and was released by 10am. It’s such a small price to pay for living in a “civilized” nation.
June 26th, 2008 at 9:42 am
I have been on two juries. THE FIRST WE WERE PICKED SWORN IN. WENT OUT TO LUNCH CAME BACK AND WAS TOLD THE DEFENDANT WAS SO SCARED OF US HE MADE A PLEA BARGAIN. I FELT LIKE AROUGH AND TOUGH FOOTBALL PLAYER. THE SECOND JURY I WAS ON SHOULD NEVER HAVE GONE TO TRIAL,EACH SIDE MADE NO MONEY. MY JURY AND VOTING IN EVERY RACE IS EXTREMELY STRONG AS MY BROTHER IS A JUDGE. I AM IN AWHEELCHAIR SO I CAN NO LONGER BE ON A JURY.BUT ICAN STILL VOTE BY ABSENTRR BALLOT. THIS IS MY CIVIC DUTY AND PRIVILEDGE.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:01 pm
Free wi-fi and paid time off, how can you beat that? Sounds like a great opportunity to get away from the office and catch up on publishing some fresh blog content to me. You’ve gotta admit…the characters hovering in and around the courthouse make for some very interesting subject matter.
June 26th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I get really annoyed with people who complain about having to serve on a jury and who trade excuses for getting out of it. Sure, it’s a pain in the neck. I spent a week there once without ever getting on a jury, but it’s part of living in a place that gives you a trial by jury. Why would anyone trust this very important right to others? Do people who aren’t willing to serve on juries think they deserve a trial by a jury of their peers? Do they think they just deserve all the rights with none of the responsibilities?
June 26th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
The problem with juries is that lawyers from both sides want the stupidest people they can find, who are easily persuaded and who have no inkling on how to think for themselves. That, in addition to the copious amounts of time wasted by prospective jurors, is what is wrong with the jury system. If I ever have the misfortune to be on trial, the jury BETTER be a jury of my PEERS - that is, college-educated people, not the dumba$$’s the lawyers want to stock the jury with.
June 27th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Thank you for sharing.
I was beginning to think that I was the only one, who actually looked forward to jury duty.
June 30th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
I always wanted to get called for jury duty (I thought it would be fun) and finally did four years ago. I served on a jury for three days, on a case where an elderly woman had been beaten to death in her own home and dumped in the bathtub under some blankets. I’ll never forget the autopsy photos or the faces of her family. I’ll also never forget what it was like to stand alone against four very opinionated jurors who felt very differently than me about some central issues of the case and who wanted to wrap things up quickly so we could get out early and enjoy having a free afternoon. (End result was second-degree murder conviction.)
That same month, a friend of mine served on a jury in a rape trial, which was grueling in different ways. Both of us got a truly eye-opening, fear-inducing look at our legal system.
Sometimes jury duty *is* hard work.