Especially when they dont compensate for shit.

You don't have to.. You don't have to be a US citizen either. Cause they don't compensate for shit either..

ETA: :: grabs the popcorn and a flame suit ::

Starting threads on XOC doesn't compensate very well either.....but that doesn't seem to stop ya.

I keed...I keed. I actually like the post volume. Anything to keep this place active enough to bust up my day a little.

Anyone who isn't happy to do this one tiny little thing for their country oughta be horsewhipped and lose their voting priveleges.

Serving is every American's duty - and one they should accept willingly.

Besides, it's kinda fun.

It would be nice if they'd actually compensate you some, though. They recently upped it to $6 a day... that'll barely buy you lunch.

compensation should at least cover the price to park your car at the courthouse all day.

It'll get you the Daily Special combo at Subway! (Tomorrow is the meatball sub, I think. My coworkers and I are obsessed. But I digress...)

Jury duty's not so bad if you're prepared and bring an iPod and crossword puzzle book.

I'd actually really like a chance to serve on a jury sometime - I think it'd be interesting. Unfortunately there's very little chance I'll ever actually make it onto a jury.

well seeing that I work a commision based only job, I cant really be taking off work for traffic court jury.

I’ve had jury duty twice: jury of your peers? I think not. I was foreman both times. Half of them could barely read or write. It’s not they system that you learned in civics class. It may be every citizen’s responsibility, but it really depends on class if you really have to serve. The “connected” people get out of it.

IMHO if the good old USA has the best judicial system in the world, we have a long way to go.

I am not a lawyer, yet have spent over 100 days in court for my job, and I think the system stinks. It is certainly not about the truth or what is right, or what is best. It is, however, about hiring a good, connected to the judge, lawyer.

“Serving is every American's duty - and one they should accept willingly.” But most don’t have to.

They system is broken and does not work unless you have money. How many days has GWB had to serve on jury duty?

I try to stay out of political threads, but this one makes my skin crawl. Our legal system stinks. It may be better than many other countries, but it is certainly not great.

The Alameda County Courthouse doesn't validate? Wow, that does suck.

It's random.

I've never had to serve...never been called..in the 20 years since I became eligible to vote. And I certainly don't have the connections he would have.

Actually, that $6 was started in 1954.

From what I can tell, Texas just raised it about a year ago to $40 per day (except for the first day, of course...which remains at $6).

In Colorado, the last time I checked, the employer is required to pay for the first two or three days (8 hrs or a day's pay) and then you get $50/day after that provided by the county.

Hm... maybe I was confused about the raise... I thought it was bumped 3 or 4 years ago from $3 to $6... AAR, when I served about 2 years ago I got $18 for 3 days

Turns out, if you keep calling the county clerk and asking to postpone your jury-duty assignment, they eventually get tired of you and stop reassigning it . . .

At least, they did with me.

The process of selecting jurors is ridiculous though. I've been called 3 times, the first time just minths after I became eligible. Yet I know people that have never gone! Thats ridiculous! Or really bad luck. :p

My friends and I always joke around about how we want to serve on a jury and how it would lead to an automatic GUILTY no matter what evidence was brought forth.

Our rationale? Even if they didn't do this crime, if they're shady enough to be arrested for it - chances are pretty damned good they've done about a dozen other illegal things and just haven't gotten caught yet.

Of course it's all joking around, if I ever got called (and I just had to fill out one of those mail questionaires so my time might be coming soon) I'd serve with impartiality. Mainly, I'd want to serve because I don't trust that the chucklehead taking my place would do a good job.

Ive been ordered to appear two times but I have been exempt because of full time student status

It will buy you a shit load at Taco Bell.

I've been called once in my life, but working for a tv station will exempt you... I was looking forward to a day off (I get up at 2am, every morning)... where I could actually sleep late and attend, at my leisure.

The clerk recognized my name and said "don't worry about it, the lawyers won't want you anyway"...

In more ways than one.

After being a witness at a trial earlier in the year, I think it would be interesting to be on a jury for a couple of days. What would suck tho is if you got picked for some 10 week long murder trial or somethin, where you don't get paid shit and your employer doesn't pay you shit.

But alas - I'm not a citizen, so I can't be on a jury. Even tho I pay my taxes and can certainly go infront of a Jury if I do anything wrong - Pretty senseless really.

You think it's senseless that only citizens are allowed to serve on a jury? That makes a lot of sense to me.

Out of curiosity, are you working on becoming a citizen or are you ultimately planning on heading back to the rainy homeland?

I get called for jury duty every 8 to 12 months. Its always from califonia and I havent lived there in over a decade. Never been called for jury duty anywhere else where I've voted.

I've pretty much lost count of how many jury summonses I've received - I figure it has to be more than a dozen. Most of the time, I just call the number or check the website all week and my number is never called. I've had to report in to a courthouse 5 times - excused during voir dire 3 times and had to actually serve on a jury twice.

By comparison, my brothers are 4 and 5 years older than I am and, put together, they've only ever received 5 summonses.

My mom was once in a huge jury pool that was being used for a Nuestra Familia (gang) murder case and she was EXTREMELY nervous about being potentially chosen. It took a full week to do the selection and she was so glad her number was never called.