Jury Duty – I’m not trying to get out of it: Leftward-Ho

I’ve been summoned to serve as a juror in the state of New Jersey where I reside. This is the second time in my life I’ve been called for jury duty. The first time was in Pennsylvania about 20 years ago.

I want to serve on a jury and plan to explain in a moment.

I don’t know about you, but every time in my entire life when someone told me they were called to jury duty they immediately followed it by wondering out loud how they could get out of it. I’ve also heard numerous conversations between people explaining what sad story or outright lie they told to avoid serving on a jury.

I have also heard scores of people talk about how they hoped they would never have to face a jury of individuals who were too stupid to come up with a way to avoid it.

The New Jersey State website has a great deal of information for prospective jurors including the following:

Jurors are an essential part of our justice system. The right to trial by jury in the United States dates from Colonial times and is rooted in English history. It is guaranteed by the Sixth and Seventh Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America and Article One of New Jersey’s State Constitution. People have a right to have matters determined by a jury of their peers. Participating in our judicial system is not only an honor, but is also one of our civic duties.

Although juror service may be inconvenient, citizens must participate in the jury process in order for it to work. Cases that go to trial need to be resolved by citizens who hear the evidence, determine the facts and render a verdict. It is impossible to get a fair cross-section of the community to participate in the jury system if people do not report for jury service. If you ever found yourself or a loved one involved in a civil or criminal trial, it’s likely that you would want a jury of fellow citizens who will be fair and impartial.

One can also learn from the website that jurors are chosen from a single list for juror selection that combines names of registered voters, licensed drivers, filers of N.J. personal income tax returns, and applicants for homestead rebates.

I am a registered voter and licensed driver.

The website says juror selection is a random process and you only have to serve once every three years.

I’ve been summoned to serve as a Petit Juror. This sounded a little funny to me because I am not petit (please excuse a little juror humor there). Petit Jury service includes criminal and civil trials. Petit jurors who sit on a criminal trial decide guilt or innocence in a criminal matter. Petit jurors who sit on a civil trial decide liability or damages.

I qualify as a juror because I am over 18, a resident of New Jersey, a US citizen, am physically and mentally able, have not been convicted of an indictable offense and read and understand English.

The official list of excuses accepted for getting out of serving as a juror do not apply to me. The list includes:

medical problems, membership of a fire department, caring for a minor child or a sick, aged or infirm dependent, holding job where I can’t be replaced or I can show jury service would cause the suffering of severe financial hardship.

If you are over 75 years of age your request not to serve will be accepted.

If you are wondering what jurors get paid in NJ, the daily fee is set by statute at $5 per day for grand jurors and for petit jurors. In addition to that daily fee, the statute requires that petit jurors receive an additional $35 per day starting on their fourth consecutive day of service and each day thereafter.

The term of service is not more than four days unless I am selected for a trial which will require my service for the duration of that trial.

There are no rules about how a person who has been called to serve as a juror must behave prior to being chosen for a trial. However, you have probably heard the rules like the following for a juror once they are chosen:

There are certain rules that a juror should follow throughout the trial in order to be fair to all sides. During the trial, jurors should not talk about the case with other jurors, or with other persons, or allow people to talk about the case in their presence. If a person persists, a juror should report the matter to the judge or a court official immediately. Jurors are given juror identification badges during their service so that no one mistakenly attempts to engage them in conversation regarding any case being heard.

Jurors should not talk about the trial with witnesses, lawyers or anyone else related to the case during the trial because it could appear that something unfair is going on even though the discussion may have nothing to do with the trial. The judge may also instruct jurors not to listen to the radio, watch television reports or read articles regarding the trial. Even if the judge does not specifically prohibit it, jurors should not read or listen to news reports about the trial during the trial.

The above means I should be able to take my laptop computer with the wireless feature turned off for taking notes in the jury box or working on BlackCommentator while waiting for something to happen. I will certainly find out the answer to this.

The last time I was called to jury duty I did not serve. I forgot about the date I was supposed to show up and as a result I received a very nasty letter from the court. I did not try to get out of it. I wrote back a letter of apology telling the court it was an oversight. I also said I was eager to serve for several reasons which included the following: