Is jury duty a necessary evil?

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Arkain2K said:
I still don't understand why TS would call the entire concept of Jury Duty "Evil", just because his courthouse have lousy parking accomodation.
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I should have clarified. I don't consider jury duty "evil" i.e. morally wrong, sinful. When I asked if it's a necessary evil, I was thinking in terms of the idiom.

something unpleasant that must be accepted in order to achieve a particular result
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http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/necessary-evil

something that you do not like but which you know must exist or happen
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http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/a+necessary+evil
 
VulcanNervPinch said:
Sure, but if jurors don't take their duty seriously (or do, but are just too plain stupid to do a good job of it), who suffers for it?
Not them.

It's a terrible system with unqualified people making crucial decisions and no accountability.
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without question. but as a matter of accountability, you are trying to find the most fair arbiters of the facts. and having 12 jurors of your peers is more in line with a democratic country than say a magistrate deciding on their own (which is typically how it was done).

people want an unbiased, 100% super duper fair and infallible system. won't ever happen, and that isn't the real goal. the real goal is trying to achieve the most philosophically fair system of justice knowing people are imperfect in this way.

if there's a better system out there, i'd love to hear it.
 
Arkain2K said:
That's just what-ifs nonsense.

Every potential juror are interviewed in court, and the lawyers from both sides use their collective knowledge and instincts to weed out all the stupid/biased/unsuitable ones during the voir dire process before settling on the final 12 (in a room filled with several hundreds potential jurors).

It's actually incredibly hard for a truly incompetent person to somehow fool the judge AND both teams of lawyers into choosing them. From what I have seen, their body language is enough to send them home.
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Are you another person that's decided to do serious posts sometimes and humorously (in theory) post "in-character" other times?
 
jefferz said:
It's amazing at the amount of people that complain about the system being corrupt, unfair, etc but when it comes to jury duty they do everything they possibly can to weasel out of it.
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Our fellow Americans need to get out more and see the world out there in order to appreciate what we have here, IMO.

The concept of Kangaroo Court is still alive and well in many countries, where the results are already predetermined by the government, the media, or a corrupted judge before the trial even begins. People living in those places could only dreams and hope for a legal system that allows a fair trial by their own peers like we do.
 
Quipling said:
Jury Duty is a civic duty and an honorable task. People who avoid it are selfish shirkers who aren't willing to play their role in society, and have forgone their right to complain about the injustices that result.
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What injustices result from skipping jury duty?
 
If they guarantee me a really interesting high profile case, that can potentially make me money in the future then yeh why not?
 
I got a jury summons last year. There was an exemption if you live more than 70 miles from the courthouse. I did a mapquest, highlighted the portion where it said 71.5 miles distance from my house, and haven't heard shit since. I'm satisfied knowing I continue to fund the process through property taxes.
 
I'm always confused by people who act patriotic or whatever, then hide from jury duty. That's your opportunity to make a direct impact in this world. I would love to get jury duty, even if I have to miss a day at work. It's my duty as a citizen.
 
why not watch a case on skype or google plus from the comfort of your home.
A judge just dealt with Dalton via live video connect.
sabretruth said:
Just about every I know hates jury duty. Is there any way we could do away with it without doing more harm than good?
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IMO they should require employers to pay the full salary for employees on jury duty (for most circumstances). Then very few people would avoid it, and the monetary responsibility for this aspect of the legal system would be shared by businesses & corporations... who arguably are reaping the most benefits of having a stable government and legal system.
 
MadSquabbles500 said:
Sell intel to a reporter maybe. I have no idea really, but if the case is interesting enough, it will probably be a blast and be worth it.
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It is.

A couple of years ago I got picked for a jury for a trial that lasted about 10 days. It was a child custody case battle between the mother and the lawyers of a child protective agency. Even though there weren't any scandalous details (the mom was your standard shitty mom) the unraveling of the evidence and story was fascinating. And of course, watching the lawyers on both sides go at it was way cool. It's totally a chess match.

Gave me a new respect for lawyers. They have to be smart as shit. I can totally see how they could want to sell their soul as well though.
 
Possum Jenkins said:
It is.

A couple of years ago I got picked for a jury for a trial that lasted about 10 days. It was a child custody case battle between the mother and the lawyers of a child protective agency. Even though there weren't any scandalous details (the mom was your standard shitty mom) the unraveling of the evidence and story was fascinating. And of course, watching the lawyers on both sides go at it was way cool. It's totally a chess match.

Gave me a new respect for lawyers. They have to be smart as shit. I can totally see how they could want to sell their soul as well though.
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Might be a blast if you have money to burn like Floyd Mayweather or if you're unemployed, but having to miss 10 days of work and pay for street or garage parking each of those days isn't too sweet a deal for most people.
 
I have been called for jury duty 3 times but was only selected for one trial and the defending ended up taking a plea bargain.

The selection process is sort of offensive. The jury I was selected for was a child molestation case and it occurred to me that the defense team took a look at me and decided there was a chance I could be sympathetic to a child molester.

I was actually going to tell the judge that I assumed the guy was guilty and shouldn't be on the jury.
 
sabretruth said:
Might be a blast if you have money to burn like Floyd Mayweather or if you're unemployed, but having to miss 10 days of work and pay for street or garage parking each of those days isn't too sweet a deal for most people.
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I'm pretty sure most professional jobs will pay for your jury duty. I know mine did. I got a stipend that paid for parking and lunch paid for as well.

But yeah, it's a shitty situation for those whose jobs don't. I'd be in favor of a law requiring all employers to pay.
 
Possum Jenkins said:
I'm pretty sure most professional jobs will pay for your jury duty. I know mine did. I got a stipend that paid for parking and lunch paid for as well.

But yeah, it's a shitty situation for those whose jobs don't. I'd be in favor of a law requiring all employers to pay.
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Its actually the poorest people who don't have that benefit though. My work will pay for jury duty but this is the first job I've had that would.
 
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