Posted by BeardedLady on October 9, 2002, at 5:26:34
In reply to Jury Duty, posted by Gracie2 on October 8, 2002, at 23:37:14
Gracie:
Get your doctor to write you a note excusing you from jury duty. It doesn't go into any kind of file that labels you a mental case; it just takes you off the call list for the length of the note. I got it for chronic insomnia once, and my dad has it for life-threatening asthma.
If it upsets you and makes you nervous, don't put yourself in that situation.
I went this year after a many-year hiatus due to chopped off thumb and pregnancy, and it was a total waste of a day. No one will ever pick me for jury duty, as my mom was mugged and beaten up, my sister had a gun stuck to her head during a store robbery, and I was just robbed at gunpoint. The judge actually APOLOGIZED to me when those who'd answered yes to any of his questions had to approach the bench privately.
I have a problem with jury duty. It's a problem shared by many, but I dislike it so terribly much. We are guaranteed a jury of our peers, and I think that's terrific. Trouble is, no one's peers are ever picked for jury duty! And if it's a young, black male on trial, the jury is old black ladies (you have to see it to believe it, I guess, because it looks so much more fair on t.v.!).
For me and others like me who work at home and get paid hourly, it is an unfair system. We don't get compensated for the day's pay (we get $15 from the court, though, whoopee!), nor do we have childcare, so we have to pay for that, in addition to paying $10 or $20 to park for the day, if we have a car. And if we don't, our day is ten hours to compensate for the bus. So it costs me about $120 to go to jury duty.
Do I have a strong opinion about it?
beardy
poster:BeardedLady
thread:30942
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020924/msgs/30950.html