A few weeks into starting college, I received a call from my mother telling me something required my immediate attention. As it turns out I had been summoned for jury duty, approximately 150 miles, 2 hours, and a hundred dollars’ worth of gas away from where I was currently attending school. As soon as I found out what was happening, I got in touch with someone about rescheduling, something they would only let me do with proof of living out of state such as a driver’s license from another state, a lease, or a utility bill, none of which are things easily obtained by a college student living on campus, especially not with less than three weeks until they needed to be at court. Jury duty most simply explained as someone sitting in on a legal proceeding with a group of other people who then might be required to make a decision on aforementioned proceeding. While I understand that jury duty is considered a civic duty and is considered a compulsory obligation I also believe …show more content…
there are much better ways of going about it. It says a lot about the process of being summoned for jury duty when there are websites, upon websites telling you how to get out of it and people who will always jump in to tell you how to be dismissed if they ever hear you mention it, but instead of using this as an opportunity to improve the selection process, they have made it more difficult for people unable to go to be excused. While an understandable choice to make people attend, it’s not the direction they should have gone. By opting to make it more difficult to reschedule to a more preferable time they are not reminding people that this is a requirement, instead they are encouraging many people to agree with the idea that jury duty is much more along the lines of forced servitude, and making people resent the idea more and more. This in turn is very likely to take away the option to a fair trial, as acknowledged as a right given to all in America, as people are going to be not just tired, but annoyed and desperate to get out of there. Which means instead of genuinely taking the information they are given into consideration and instead will make a quick judgement in hopes of ending it as quickly as possible. Although someone cannot be fired for being unable to go to work because of jury duty it is not uncommon for people to not get paid because of it, and in far too many people’s lives, that decrease in paycheck could mean a lack of food for an extended period of time, missed bills, or countless other misfortunes.
A chance of not being paid or being a college student are not the only reasons as to why someone might be unable to go to jury duty, though, they could be a parent with a child they can’t be away from for very long, or maybe they have a psychological reason for not being able to attend. Sometimes people don’t have a reason as to why they can’t go other than they don’t want to. That reason alone is one that is very difficult to not understand on some level, jury duty can be stressful, inconvenient and the fact that there is no way of knowing exactly how long the case might go on until it’s over are all reasons that could cause one’s stomach to fill with dread when they receive their
letter. While going through everything to try and be excused from it I couldn’t stop thinking that there had to be a more effective way to do this. The first part of the jury selection process, and the one that should be redone the most, is the venire, otherwise known as the jury pool. It’s similar to the lottery only instead of buying a ticket your name is put in based on a compiled list of names from voter registrations and drivers licenses. This is why some people can go their entire lives without being summoned while others can be called upon multiple times. Why do it this way, why not hire people and turn it into a job, which as a result could improve the unemployment problem in the country, why not take volunteers, or in turn why not have as a requirement but put the power in the jurors’ hands. To expand on that last idea they could have it set in a way in which you are required to put in an application once a year or so, with dates in which they are available to go through the process of being a juror, then they could put together the pool from there. While making things more complicated and likely not being as cost effective, it could save a lot of people a lot of hassle and pain, as well as making more people open to the idea that it’s not being forced upon them, leading to less people having a large distrust of the government. The fact is that while jury duty is an understandable part of being an adult in the United States, it isn’t being handled properly. It’s become such a stressful unwanted and even unfair part of life that people avoid it at all costs, in turn, leading to the government make the system somehow more difficult, starting a vicious cycle of making others more stressed and more annoyed. Their solution of making things more difficult in hopes of making people more likely to attend is in the end no solution at all. The things that they reform shouldn’t be to make things appear more restricted and forced and instead should seem more fair and understanding.
Jury duty is the obligation to serve on a jury. There are many reasons for being excused if summoned, here are some: having no public or private transportation or having to exceed 1 ½ hours to travel to the trial (http://www.courti…); if you are under 18 or older than 70 (choose not to serve), or if you are not a US resident with a home in the state (http://www.cga …); if you cannot speak or understand English; or is a constitutional officer, a family support magistrate, a judge, or a member of the general assembly (http://www.cga …). After being selected for jury duty, one is at risk of jury tampering which is a crime where someone attempts to influence the jury via means other than those presented during the trial (http://le...
There are hundreds of Americans who are selected for jury duty every day. Just like the characters many of them believe jury duty is a major conflict in their lives. They may say they do not have time to participate, which may be true, but the law will make sure you have time. As always, life and time keep going, and nobody wants to miss it. No one prefers to sit in court when they can be doing something productive but it is not going to kill them. Everyone deserves to have a jury hear them and surely they would want that for themselves.
In document C, John W. Dean who was legal council the the U.S. President Richard M. Nixon said, “While compulsion of any kind is a restriction, so is the compulsion to drive only on the right side of the road. Requiring citizens to vote is no more restrictive than requiring them to register for the draft. And it is far less restrictive than requiring us, for example, to attend school; to serve on juries, possibly for weeks or months at a time; to pay taxes; or to serve in the military when drafted”(Dean). That shows the multitude of laws or requirements in America that are less important than voting, but are required. Voting is for the good of the country, yet people won't vote, but won't bat an eye when they are forced into jury duty.
“Nearly 6 million voting-age Americans can’t vote in the 2016 primaries and presidential election because of various state felon disenfranchisement laws”(Green). The right to serve jury duty is also excluded from ex-felons. As a US citizen, voting-age men and women are put on a list which is pulled from the voters. This list is used to find men and women for jury duty, because they are unable to vote, the ex-felons are also restricted from attending jury duty.
First, when individuals are appointed for a jury, several individuals will do anything to not be selected for the trial. For instance, my father has conveyed he was indisposed or he could not afford to miss work. Moreover, most individuals do not perceive being a juror as an honor being as a citizen, instead they see it as a burden. A substantial influence on this position is the remuneration, because individuals are missing work to serve. On average, an individual who is selected to be a juror makes about 30 to 40 dollars a day, a fraction of when he or she is working. For this
As long as you are a U.S. citizen and of eighteen years of age, and registered in your residing county to vote, random selection based on drivers licenses are summoned for jury duty to serve the community. However, jury verdicts of acquittal are unassailable even where the verdict is inconsistent with the weight of the evidence and instruction of the law. Jury nullification takes place when jurors acquit a defendant who is factually guilty because they disagree with the law as written. Jury nullification also occurs when a jury convicts a defendant because it condemns the defendant or his actions, even though the evidence at trial showed that he technically didn’t break any law.
In the United States, jury trials are an important part of our court system. We rely heavily on the jury to decide the fate of the accused. We don’t give a second thought to having a jury trial now, but they were not always the ‘norm’.
Today juries are much more diverse. Men, women, and people from diverse backgrounds are called to jury duty. Although the origin of the jury system is not clear, history has shown that William the Conqueror from Normandy introduced a similar system to England around 1066 CE (Judiciary of Vermont 1). After the American Revolutionary War, the jury system became the American ideal of justice. This essay will explore the history of the American jury system and illustrate how it has evolved over the course of the American history.
The United States criminal justice system constantly violates human rights. These rights belong to justify every person in America and should not be used to tear one another down for what their beliefs are. Likewise, freedom of speech is so ingrained in the constitution that it should be more widely embraced. The protection of religion, speech, and expression is a critical part of America’s political system. The strong, direct link between freedom and democracy is unbreakable and is an important part in governing ourselves. It states that Congress is prohibited in creating laws against people’s belief’s; yet, it is regularly denied to anyone who talks back to the law. Furthermore, this country supports the death penalty. While some individuals
In almost all the countries where jury system is practices, juries have been seen as the best tool for ensuring equity and empowering citizens to determine and play a role in justice. According to Abramson (1994), the only way an ordinary citizen participates in government and injects community values in...
A jury system inquires fairness in a court case. A jury is “A group of citizens called to hear a trial of a criminal prosecution of a lawsuit, decide the factual questions of guilt or innocence or determine the prevailing party (winner) in a lawsuit and the amount to be paid, if any, by the loser” (Law.com Legal Dictionary 2014). As a jury member they are obligated to tell the truth and give an honest response. The jury system randomly selects 12 people for each court case. Once you are 18 years old and registered you can be selected for jury service. There are two categories of people who cannot serve and that is people who are excluded from the jury roll and who are exempt from jury service (NSW Government 2014). Those who are excluded are people with criminal convictions and who hold high positions in public office. Those exempted are due to their employment (NSW Government 2014). As a jury member you are expected to dress appropriately, be honest, and give fu...
A lot of countries use a jury system. Some are very different and some are very similar. Some countries don't have a jury system. Some countries have a jury system, but don't use it. Others have jury systems, but they are different than the one we know here in the US.
I should receive a passing grade in this class because I can write now. Not just an exaggeration, but after another semester of English I finally feel confident that can write. Three of the reasons behind my confidence is I learned, I experienced and best of all I repeated. These three values helped prepare me for what is in store in English 1302 and here is why.
It can adequately be argued that the jury system has its roots in England and it is basically made up of twelve people who sit in criminal and civil events to make decisions on matters of facts and not law since the jurists in most cases do not have legal knowledge now that they are not experts in law. The members of the jury are individuals who command great respect and dignity in the society and in some instances they have expert knowledge on various matters that warrant them to sit in court and contribute immensely on the matter of the law. England has practiced the jury system for the past 800 years. The justification behind the establishment of the jury system in England was to have the court to personally investigate some cases for fairness
Everyone has the right to vote, or not to vote in the years we live today. People decide whether they wish to participate in the nation’s future or just walk aimlessly and allow it to take its own path. Over decades, centuries, our country continued growing but just recently did it allow all to vote as long as they call this nation home. Run-on Sentence: Over decades, centuries, our country continued growing, but just recently did it allow all to vote as long as they call this nation home. However, large amounts of people still do not vote in any politics. Today everyone should understand what differences a vote could make like what can happen, why it matters, and benefits of voting.