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Doing My Civic Duty Today

Posted by GayPatriot at 11:36 am - March 9, 2010.
Filed under: American History, Patriotism

Hey folks. I’m at the Mecklenberg County Courthouse today, serving on jury duty.  I was one of the first called this morning on a civil, personal injury case.

And one of the first dismissed from that courtroom.  Never did I think my chronic back injury would have a benefit to me!  *laughs*

Anyway, I’m here until at least 4pm.  I guess there is an afternoon round.

All-in-all, it is very well run and the jury room is great.  There are even donated pinball & video games!  Woot!

PS– I need some ideas for my next BigJournalism.com piece.  Please email me some ideas.  PLEASE!

-Bruce (GayPatriot)

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12 Comments

  1. The last time I had jury duty, I got out of it by merely being honest and straightforward when they asked me questions. They don’t like opinionated people. Their loss.

    Comment by ILoveCapitalism — March 9, 2010 @ 11:41 am - March 9, 2010

  2. It would be most interesting and enlightening to read your interpretation of the history of Argentina over the last 100 years as it relates th the
    future of the USA in the next 50 to 100 years.

    Comment by michael randall — March 9, 2010 @ 12:07 pm - March 9, 2010

  3. In Cook County – if you get picked for a courtroom and then are dismissed, you get to go home.

    I’m 2 for 2 in being picked for a jury. The first one was for a personal injury by a sheriff’s deputy. We both had the same last names but he’s black and I’m white, so the attorney had to ask if we were related and I said “well, I’d have to ask my mom” and got the judge to laugh. It was awesome.

    Comment by Nick — March 9, 2010 @ 12:17 pm - March 9, 2010

  4. Funny Story Nick thanks for the chuckle.

    Last time I was called for jury duty I got out of it by calling the plaintiff a whiner

    Comment by Joe — March 9, 2010 @ 12:36 pm - March 9, 2010

  5. In my case, I was called in the first group of 12. When the defendant walked in the room I found myself thinking, gee, I wonder what his life is like? I wonder if he really did what they’re charging him with? Or he is just trapped in a nightmare of circumstantial evidence, as sometimes happens? How did he get where he is today?

    Then the defendant’s lawyer asked us, “When my client walked in the room, did any of you think to yourselves, Gee I wonder if he did it?” I decided that applied to me, and raised my hand. I might have been the only one. I was the second person she dismissed. The first one she dismissed was a university professor – as far as I can tell, only because he was a professor, i.e. likely to be intelligent and opinionated.

    Comment by ILoveCapitalism — March 9, 2010 @ 12:54 pm - March 9, 2010

  6. I remember going to jury duty once here in Polk County. I was excused in the morning, but we were held throughout the day for other trials. Didn’t get called for any of those either. Got sick that night and called the next morning and they told me not to worry about it.

    I got summons twice in Houston and never went. I kept calling the phone number at different hours and nobody ever answered so I said “screw it!”.

    Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 9, 2010 @ 4:01 pm - March 9, 2010

  7. http://video.adultswim.com/harvey-birdman-attorney-at-law/jury-summons.html

    Comment by ThatGayConservative — March 9, 2010 @ 4:04 pm - March 9, 2010

  8. I feel for you! I was called recently, but fortunately got dismissed from the only jury I was put up for.

    Comment by American Elephant — March 9, 2010 @ 6:27 pm - March 9, 2010

  9. Bruce,

    Does your Big Journalism piece need to be gay-themed? Or can it be about anything?

    Comment by American Elephant — March 9, 2010 @ 6:28 pm - March 9, 2010

  10. The only time I got close to serving was for a case of a young 25 year old who shot his gf with a shot gun and blew part of her arm off during a dispute. I acted real cool, but kept looking at the guy thinking I’d vote to hang him given half a chance. His attorny must have noticed the other 11 people looked a lot like me and he settled shortly before a trial was to begin.

    Comment by Gene in Pennsylvania — March 9, 2010 @ 8:35 pm - March 9, 2010

  11. I had jury duty once in Prince Georges County, MD. We have to go the first week, and be on call for the second week. I was an alternate for a civil trial, but heard that the deliberations got ugly, and ended up as a hung jury. Then I got on a criminal trial. I always think that a defendant is most likely guilty, and that there is sufficient evidence, because, otherwise, it would never make it to trial. But I kept an open mind. Not only did the prosecution fail to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt, I actually thought, and most of the other jurors, thought the defendant was innocent beyond a reasonable doubt. Heard afterwards that the alleged victim’s father was a policeman.

    Went to jury duty once in Passaic County, NJ. I was a potential juror for a big criminal case that was going to last about three weeks. When they described the charges, it was clear that there was plenty of evidence and loads of witnesses that saw these scum commit the crimes they were charged with. So, although I would have kept an open mind, my initial impression was that they were guilty. But I was excused by the prosecution for some other reason. Someone I was acquainted with ended up on the jury, and said that the jury deciding guilty was a no-brainer.

    Gene, apparently a lot of defendants change their plea at the last minute. In PG County, they cannot change their plea once jury selection starts.

    Comment by Pat — March 10, 2010 @ 7:22 am - March 10, 2010

  12. I usually never get called. The prosecution likes me, the defense does not.

    Comment by PatriotMom — March 10, 2010 @ 7:30 am - March 10, 2010

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