![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Gracie2 on October 8, 2002, at 23:37:14
I've just recieved notice of jury duty in November. I'm experienced with it, I've been called 6 or 7 times before and served 3 times. But I haven't been called in the last couple of years, and during that time I've had some real problems. I've been hospitalized 3 times for psychiatric illness, the last time in March. I'm much better now, stabalized on an anti-psychotic and an anti-depressant.Does anyone know if this disqualifies me as a juror? I actually don't mind jury duty, but I don't feel like stating that I'm a basket-case in court. On the other hand, you hear about criminal trials being overturned because of the most amazing technicalities.
I can still drive, I can still vote. I can do just about anything, I guess, except buy a gun. (And that's okay.) The questionaire with the jury notice asks only if I am mentally or physically disabled. I'm sure not recieving any form of disability payments.
I guess I should just keep my mouth shut?
-Gracie
Posted by BeardedLady on October 9, 2002, at 5:26:34
In reply to Jury Duty, posted by Gracie2 on October 8, 2002, at 23:37:14
Gracie:
Get your doctor to write you a note excusing you from jury duty. It doesn't go into any kind of file that labels you a mental case; it just takes you off the call list for the length of the note. I got it for chronic insomnia once, and my dad has it for life-threatening asthma.
If it upsets you and makes you nervous, don't put yourself in that situation.
I went this year after a many-year hiatus due to chopped off thumb and pregnancy, and it was a total waste of a day. No one will ever pick me for jury duty, as my mom was mugged and beaten up, my sister had a gun stuck to her head during a store robbery, and I was just robbed at gunpoint. The judge actually APOLOGIZED to me when those who'd answered yes to any of his questions had to approach the bench privately.
I have a problem with jury duty. It's a problem shared by many, but I dislike it so terribly much. We are guaranteed a jury of our peers, and I think that's terrific. Trouble is, no one's peers are ever picked for jury duty! And if it's a young, black male on trial, the jury is old black ladies (you have to see it to believe it, I guess, because it looks so much more fair on t.v.!).
For me and others like me who work at home and get paid hourly, it is an unfair system. We don't get compensated for the day's pay (we get $15 from the court, though, whoopee!), nor do we have childcare, so we have to pay for that, in addition to paying $10 or $20 to park for the day, if we have a car. And if we don't, our day is ten hours to compensate for the bus. So it costs me about $120 to go to jury duty.
Do I have a strong opinion about it?
beardy
Posted by mair on October 9, 2002, at 9:50:00
In reply to Jury Duty, posted by Gracie2 on October 8, 2002, at 23:37:14
Gracie - Your illness would not disqualify you for jury duty, but if you really want out, a doctor's note might help excuse you. There is no guarantee of this, however. It's pretty much within the judge's discretion.
If you decide to go, I don't think you need to own up to a mental disability. However, and particularly if the juries being drawn are for criminal cases, there may be more specific questions asked by the attornies. Mental health issues tend to crop up with a fair degree of frequency in criminal cases.
Mair
Posted by Gracie2 on October 11, 2002, at 1:02:28
In reply to Re: Jury Duty » Gracie2, posted by mair on October 9, 2002, at 9:50:00
I've never minded jury duty. My regular job was so boring, I actually looked forward to it, in the past.However, that was all before I had to quit my job and the medications, hospitilizations and psychiatrists I've endured in the last two years.
I've decided not to say anything unless I'm called
for a criminal trial, which could result in someone being jailed - or worse. I do believe in the death penalty when it involves premeditation,
torture, or the death of a child. I live in a state where lethal injection is common.However, in the 3 cases where I've served on a jury, they were all civil trials and actually kind of silly. One was an elderly man who fell out of his metal folding chair at a major hardware store, sustaining "major injuries" -
everyone else voted to award him minimal damages,
and I held out to give him nothing.A criminal trial is different-
-Gracie
Posted by sjb on October 11, 2002, at 9:48:34
In reply to Re: Jury Duty, posted by Gracie2 on October 11, 2002, at 1:02:28
Good for you. Most folks don't understand that when big paydays are awarded, it's all of us that pay in the long run. They mistakenly think that all the money comes from the company, like they all have unlimited funds for these things. Even if they do, they'll find a way to protect it and hit the consumer for the tab.
On the other hand, I'm against the death penalty. It's not a deterrent and death row inmates cost the public more then life term sentences due to the appeals process.
However, I sympathize with opposing views, can't begin to understand the grief undergone by families who's loved ones have been victimized by heinous crimes, and agree that McVeigh had to be executed, just because of the scope, etc.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Social | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.