I enjoyed doing research on jury selection because I've never been asked to serve on a jury, so I was always curious about the process you have to go through. As it turns out, it's pretty time consuming. I've provided a link that has information on the jury selection process.
Also, when one of my friends was called to jury duty, she asked me how to get out of it. Just in case any of you decide you want to get out of jury duty, I also found a website that gives 20 effective ways to avoid jury duty. Some of them are humorous, other ones are more serious. So have fun reading those!
The 20 effective ways is interesting some of them would take some practice and good acting too pull off but some are ways you automatically get excused. I would hate to do jury duty because court preceedings are usually very drawn out and boring except mildly entertaining to watch lawyers get mad at eacch other or people get really angry. I wonder if they only get to strike so many because in some movies they can only strike a certain amount. In some trials they have it moved to a different town and then keep jurrors in hotel rooms which i have thought only happened in movies but i guess it does with high profile cases. They also want to make sure know one really knows about the case too. It would be fun to be on the jury if trial really was as entertaining as it is depicted, because from a couple of personal experiences it is very boring.
I really enjoyed going through the list of the ways to avoid jury duty. The one I would like to focus on is number 7.
"Be biased. Neutrality is the number one feature desired in jurors. Just don’t take it too far. Everything you say is on public record."
My mom was called to jury duty a few years ago to be a jury member for a big drug case. She was questioned by both lawyers and was chosen to be on the jury. However, she shared with me a very interesting story about a man who was let go from jury duty because he was said to be very biased. One of the lawyers asked the group, "Does many one think this man is guilty already?" She said one man raised his hand and said, "Yes." The lawyer then asked, "why do you think he looks guilty?" The man then went off on a rant about how he looked like a drug dealer and that he worked with guys like him and they all do drugs! The man was immediately asked to leave. Such sayings as, "they all do drugs" or "guys like him" are direct keys that someone may be biased. Now I do not know if this man was simply looking to get out of jury duty, or really believed this man was a drug dealer beause he "looked like one". We live in a very biased world and society. As a lawyer I feel that picking the people that appear to be most unbiased is extremely important. In the Mark Becker case I remember them looking for people who had not heard about the case. This was obviously not an easy task because of the great media coverage on the murder of Ed Thomas. But when you hear a story on the news, or read about it in the newspaper, I feel like I immediately pass judgement and decide if I think a person is guilty or not.
Bias is another huge factor in psychology in general. Whenever we learn about research in a psychology class we must also look at the biases that may surround that research. Social desirability bias comes into play with a lot of self report data. Social desirability could also be something that a member of a jury might have. They might go along with certain beliefs or views that seem socially desirable. I don't think we should ever overlook how much bias there is when dealing with people.
I found the website very helpful and, from what I know about the jury selection process, very accurate. Through my own research with the jury selection process, I have found that selecting the right jury can be the most important part of the case. Lawyers are so particular in what they are looking for from jurors that you can almost sense what kind of person they want. Just be the opposite of what they are looking for and if the lawyers are any good, you will be booted right away. I really liked numbers 8 and 11. From the sounds of it, if we started to talk about how much we learned from our Psychology and Law class, we will be viewed as a biased juror and be kicked off.
Personally, I think it's too bad that people use excuses to get out of jury duty simply because they don't want to do it. To my understanding, full time employees will receive full work pay compensation for the first five days of jury services. Plus, you get paid to be a juror...so why not?! For those who do not receive full pay due to part time jobs however, serving on a jury may create many financial problems.
I have also read that you can reschedule your assigned time within the next ten months, so if for some reason you can't serve the time allotted, you should postpone, not purposely disqualify yourself.
Serving on a juror is a civil duty. It is a very important part of our criminal justice system, so people who can afford being off of work should fulfill their duty instead of making excuses to get out of it or purposely making themselves look bad in from of the lawyers to get disqualified.
I find jury duty really dull and getting out of it would be sweet but, like the previous posts, serving as a juror is a civil duty. I suppose people would like getting out of it for a lot of reasons, main one is that it is boring sometimes, have better things to do, and there is a lot of responsibility that some people just can't handle. I would go through with it just because I'm going into that sort of thing so I would grin and bare it. I would for sure do juror duty if I was being paid for it from my job. What's better than getting paid for nothing?
I also agree with past posts that jury duty isn't something people should try to get out of. People may see it at time consuming or it may interfere with their daily routines, but personally I see it as an obligation and although it may not be fun it is helping out the greater good. My opinion may be skewed because I have never been asked to participate in jury duty, so maybe my opinion will change when I am. I also found on WikiAnswers the answer to why jury duty is important.(I realize this is an opinion, but it's still interesting) Here is the site: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_jury_duty_an_important_civic_duty
This caught my eye right away and I found the links very interesting. I've never been asked to serve on jury duty, and hopefully it stays that way! I myself don't think that I'd be too excited if I got asked to do it, but at the same time, if I made it all the way to the jury part that would be pretty sweet and educational. I also think it'd be great incentive to pay people :) haha, like that will happen.
lrh, you actually do get paid to serve jury duty. I was given jury duty the first summer I was eligible (when you turn 18). I never got called in which I was pretty bummed about, but if I would have I would have gotten paid something like 30 dollars a day plus mileage one way I believe. The amount you get paid probably varies by court house, but at least you get a little something out of it.