A few years ago my wife sat on the jury for a case that was so unpleasant (father sexually abusing his very young daughter) that when it was done (he was found guilty) that the judge told the jury members that if they were ever called for jury duty again, to call his clerk and they'd make sure the person was excused.
All things considered we got off lightly and the judge told us the case before ours lasted 2 months. I can't imagine what it was like for the O.J. Simpson trial jurors and as your wife's experience indicates we could have had it much worse.
The first time I was ever called for a jury duty was in 1990 in Jackson County. I've lived on the Kansas side for 27 years now, and I get called every couple of years. I've only actually been put on a jury two times. I always joke with my lawyer friends that the best way to handle jury duty is to go in there and tell the judge that you can't serve on the jury because you think that lawyers are the biggest scum-sucking bastards on the planet, but I've never had the nerve to tell any judge that. 🤣
The last time I was called up in Jackson County, the judge - I believe it was John R. O'Malley, asked the sea of grumpy, under-caffeinated faces if there was anyone who wished to be excused. My hand shot up , along with a hundred others. The judge told us to stand. He then delivered a monologue about the responsibility of citizenship, the cost of living in a free society, and how, if we ever needed a jury of our peers it shouldn't be people who just couldn't get out of jury duty, etc., etc., etc.
It was a diatribe worthy of Dragnet's Sergeant Joe Friday, and as he railed on, we all started feeling like first-rate assholes, instead of the second-rate whiny assholes we were when we first stood up. AllI wanted to do was sit down and forget I ever said anything.
I get what the judge said...up to a point: but I think about the OJ trial when the jury was sequestered for either 8 or 11 months depending on what mis-informative internet article you look at and I don't get how you can ask someone to go through that.
My back-up solution is selecting jurors from the people on unemployment...you know they've got time on their hands.
And as the body of my work demonstrates, I've made a pretty good living out of being a second-rate whiny asshole.
I am 83 and have been summoned for jury duty once. I drove to Olathe and found a place to park, waited for over an hour to be told the case was decided before trial and I could just go home. Done with jury duty for life.
A few years ago my wife sat on the jury for a case that was so unpleasant (father sexually abusing his very young daughter) that when it was done (he was found guilty) that the judge told the jury members that if they were ever called for jury duty again, to call his clerk and they'd make sure the person was excused.
All things considered we got off lightly and the judge told us the case before ours lasted 2 months. I can't imagine what it was like for the O.J. Simpson trial jurors and as your wife's experience indicates we could have had it much worse.
The first time I was ever called for a jury duty was in 1990 in Jackson County. I've lived on the Kansas side for 27 years now, and I get called every couple of years. I've only actually been put on a jury two times. I always joke with my lawyer friends that the best way to handle jury duty is to go in there and tell the judge that you can't serve on the jury because you think that lawyers are the biggest scum-sucking bastards on the planet, but I've never had the nerve to tell any judge that. 🤣
The last time I was called up in Jackson County, the judge - I believe it was John R. O'Malley, asked the sea of grumpy, under-caffeinated faces if there was anyone who wished to be excused. My hand shot up , along with a hundred others. The judge told us to stand. He then delivered a monologue about the responsibility of citizenship, the cost of living in a free society, and how, if we ever needed a jury of our peers it shouldn't be people who just couldn't get out of jury duty, etc., etc., etc.
It was a diatribe worthy of Dragnet's Sergeant Joe Friday, and as he railed on, we all started feeling like first-rate assholes, instead of the second-rate whiny assholes we were when we first stood up. AllI wanted to do was sit down and forget I ever said anything.
No one was excused.
I get what the judge said...up to a point: but I think about the OJ trial when the jury was sequestered for either 8 or 11 months depending on what mis-informative internet article you look at and I don't get how you can ask someone to go through that.
My back-up solution is selecting jurors from the people on unemployment...you know they've got time on their hands.
And as the body of my work demonstrates, I've made a pretty good living out of being a second-rate whiny asshole.
And the day after I posted my comment the other day, I got a jury summons. Felt like a rope-a-dope.
I am 83 and have been summoned for jury duty once. I drove to Olathe and found a place to park, waited for over an hour to be told the case was decided before trial and I could just go home. Done with jury duty for life.
I'm envious.