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Have you ever been summoned for Jury Duty in either the US & Canada? (lemmy.zip)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by LtDan@lemmy.zip to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

43 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I know that Jury Duty is mandatory in both nations (USA all 50 states / Canada all 13 provinces) meaning citizens have to show up in person when they receive the "dreaded letter" via the mail telling them the date / time and court in which they have to attend, excusals exist if you manage to plead your reasoning for excusal with evidence.

I mean, have you received a summons from the court saying you've been chosen as a juror? There are penalities on failing to attend. If you were selected on being part of the jury, what is the experience like and how much are you paid? If you weren't selected on being part of the jury that time, is there a chance you can be summoned again at any given moment?

Neurodivergent people (i.e. Autism, ADHD, dyslexia) who have received the summons can plead their reasoning as to why they aren't eligible to be a juror only if they have medical evidence (diagnosis of their condition, psych report, doctors letter, medical certificate) explaining why their condition makes them unable to serve & etc.

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[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I've been summoned as a juror twice in >20 years of eligibility. They have a number you call when the date comes to see if you actually have to appear or not; the first time, I didn't have to go at all. The second time, I did have to appear; I sat in a waiting room with about 20 other people for an hour, then we were all told we could go home.

Overall, shitty experience.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 3 days ago (2 children)

We were explained that even sitting there waiting to be called was important. Usually things become real to the defendants when there's a jury waiting and things settle at the last minute.

[–] CmdrShepard49@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Having been on the receiving end of that, the prosecutor tacked on a bunch of extra charges the day before my trial, so that me and my overworked public defender would agree to a plea bargain.

[–] KoboldCoterie@pawb.social 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That explains the wait-then-dismiss situation. On the other hand, I wonder if the person on trial actually did it or if they were pressured into a plea deal...

I do not have a lot of faith in our court system.

[–] Tolookah@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 days ago

That time, we sat on a civil case, so a settlement would have been money changing hands