Jury duty questionnaire seems intrusive and odd.

[jamil]

The amswer is, need to secede from the borg.

Trying to represent BigRed in his absence.

 

[IN New Guy]

Was in a jury pool once. DA asked a potential juror, a guy, if he had ever been in a courtroom before. "Yes."
DA: where?
Man: right here.
DA: why?
Man names off about six or eight different charges.
DA: could you make an unbiased opinion on this case?
Man. No.
DA: Why not?
Man: Because I don't like lawyers. I don't like you, (to the DA), and I don't like you (to the defense attorney) and I don't like you (to the judge). I don't like any of you. And I don't like being here.

Needless to say, he was dismissed. And they never got around to me.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

And the legitimacy of my religion shouldn’t be questioned. We have the freedom to search out and practice our beliefs as we see fit as long as it is not causing physical harm.

Shouldn't be questioned by who?

I’m curious if these questions are needed for a fair jury and if so does that make all juries previous to the introduction of these questions invalid? If not, how did the previous juries keep from being invalidated from the lack of these highly accurate means of gathering an impartial jury. Either the questionnaires provide the only usable means to get an impartial jury or it doesn’t.

Generally these questions or similar might/would be asked in voir dire, these questions are basically a preliminary voir dire. It helps weed out those that might not be able to be impartial prior to them actually having to come in. Let's say the person on trial or one of the attorneys involved goes to such and such church, and are members in the local moose lodge and a couple of others. They can exclude people who belong/go to those locations without having to have them come in. Or they can just call everyone in and then send home those that do go/belong to those.

You talk about people losing pay for actually serving on the jury, how do you feel about those that have to take off work for a day or more just to be excluded for something that this questionnaire could have weeded out?

 

[Mij]

You guys are lucky to live in counties with large populations.
And the lunch expletive’s

 

[JettaKnight]

Shouldn't be questioned by who?

"by whom".

 

[Timjoebillybob]

You guys are lucky to live in counties with large populations.
And the lunch expletive’s

My county population isn't that large. Heck where I grew up the county seat's population is about the same as the entire county where I live now. I've gotten a questionnaire twice that covered the jury pool for the next year. Never been called in. Us small counties while having a smaller available pool also have a much smaller number of jury trials.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

IKR.

Anyone working with govt entities know how discombobulated, incompetent, and incredibly slow they can be.
The govt. isn't a cabal of shadowy figures controlling all; more like a daycare center.


As to jury duty, it's ironic that so many highly patriotic individuals try to so hard to avoid it.

It's like any large organization. It's full of people of various levels of capability and dedication, people who don't know the job but know politics get elevated and forget that they don't know how to do the job (or never did the job), people put their own careers ahead of organization objectives, etc.

I think many of you guys would be legitimately shocked at how disparate the software systems in government use are. There are absolutely some high tech cutting edge neat-o whizbang stuff being used. Then there's decades old defunct programs struggling along inside of newer programs trying to talk to even more outdated programs. I honestly believe the reason you don't get more ransomware attacks on gov't systems is they are so damned stupid that people who know what they are doing can't figure out how to get in. It's like a house where you get inside via the mailbox across the street because that's how sumdood in 1973 thought houses worked, it's built out of crepe paper and lit by candles because that's what the budget allowed for, and the house was built for 5 midgets because that's all it needed to hold then but now 750 clones of Andre the Giant have moved in.

 

[thompal]

I've no issue with jury pay being increased, hell even better food, but I also know how strapped the court systems are.

I served on 3 juries. Apparently, you can be called every 6 months, and I got the notice every 6 months in the late 70s/early 80s. I ended up serving on all three. One of them was while the cafeteria at the City/County Building was being remodeled, so the Baliff took us to St. Elmo's for lunch.

One was a murder/arson trial. The second was criminal confinedment/rape/incest. The third was a civil trial.

It was a very interesting experience.

 

[thompal]

Juries of SAHMs, old people, the unemployed, affluent liberals, and political activists.
WhY aRe OuR cOuRtS sO sLaNtEd?

I went to watch a few federal trials. Two things struck me: the federal prosecutors and federal LEOs didn't play by the rules, and; the vast majority of the federal jury pools were federal employees or spouses of federal employees, plus a few unemployed people.

 

[lrdudley]

Was called one time in Florida. The juror selection process went something like this:
A. Do you know any of the attorneys here today?
M. No
A. What is your occupation?
M. General Manager of a printing company.
A. Do you do work for any attorneys?
M. I try not.
A. Why not?
M. Because they are traditionally bad pay accounts.
Shortly after the Judge got back into his chair after having a laughing fit, I was dismissed.

 

[DragonGunner]

The amswer is, need to secede from the borg.

Trying to represent BigRed in his absence.

Ya where is BigRed…? Shooter or something? Or did he get that sweet contract to take out Putin?

 

[Tactically Fat]

When this type of thing comes up, my generally unpopular advice is:

"Be the type of juror that you would want if you were on trial."

That includes filling out the surveys, IMO.

 

[HoughMade]

If no one has said it yet (tl/dr)...

The juror questionnaire is signed under oath like an affidavit.
You are put under oath when asked questions live at trial.
- this means, potential perjury.

Does this ever happen? I had one case where a juror was cited for contempt and arrested for lying (sorry, no details). I doubt he was prosecuted, but I don't know.

The public doesn't show up for trials. Even when they do, it's not during voir dire. In Lake County, you get the questionnaires the morning of jury selection and the gather them up when that is done. Other counties do it differently.

In the end, I get that some people may think these things are obtrusive, but NO ONE cares about personal juror information beyond trying to discover some personality or background that may reveal a clue about how you would think about the evidence. It's just not something we ever think about.

 

[XMil]

If no one has said it yet (tl/dr)...

Thank you for the answer. It sounds like you may be an attorney or judge.

Who DOES see these forms? Where are they kept and who has access to them? When and how are they disposed of?

 

[Timjoebillybob]

I went to watch a few federal trials. Two things struck me: the federal prosecutors and federal LEOs didn't play by the rules, and; the vast majority of the federal jury pools were federal employees or spouses of federal employees, plus a few unemployed people.

Where were these fed trial at if you don't mind me asking. If D.C. I could understand that kind of jury pool, elsewhere not as much.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

Ya where is BigRed…? Shooter or something? Or did he get that sweet contract to take out Putin?

Temp shooter.

 

[HoughMade]

Thank you for the answer. It sounds like you may be an attorney or judge.

Who DOES see these forms? Where are they kept and who has access to them? When and how are they disposed of?

I have been a trial attorney for the last 24+ years.

The forms are usually sent out and collected by the County Clerk's office. When a trial is scheduled, they will summon a certain number of people to show up when needed. At that point, the forms are sent to that court. Then, the judge and both sides get a copy. Once the jury is picked, the forms are gathered up and destroyed by the court. They use a secure shredding service just like my law firm does. You would be surprised how many jurors want to hang around after the trial has concluded and talk to the lawyers.

 

[xwing]

I have never served on jury duty. I was called up twice, but both times just sat around the jury lounge until they dismissed us. (I assume both cases either settled or went to non-jury trial at the last moment.)

But I would be happy to serve if called. While it would be a hassle, it's an important part of the judicial system. If the only people in juries are those who have an ax to grind or those can't think of a way to get out of it, that is terrible for democracy. As someone who believes in the U.S. Constitution and the values our county was founded upon, I would consider it an honor to answer that call to duty. (Plus, it would be interesting.)

 

[XMil]

I have been a trial attorney for the last 24+ years.

The forms are usually sent out and collected by the County Clerk's office. When a trial is scheduled, they will summon a certain number of people to show up when needed. At that point, the forms are sent to that court. Then, the judge and both sides get a copy. Once the jury is picked, the forms are gathered up and destroyed by the court. They use a secure shredding service just like my law firm does. You would be surprised how many jurors want to hang around after the trial has concluded and talk to the lawyers.

Thank you!

I don't find that surprising. I love talking to people in other professions.

 

[Shadow01]

Shouldn't be questioned by who?

the government.

so if we shouldn’t have a juror that goes to the same church as the defendant, should an Atheist juro be allowed if the defendant is Atheist? Trying to understand the extent we are required to go to say the jury is acceptable. Did trial juries in the 1800s exclude based on church affiliation? If not, does that invalidate those jury decisions? I think we are going too far by micro managing who is on a jury. We need a judicial system that is willing to ignore the insignificant whining of unfairness. I’m curious if during the days of using horses everyday did courts exclude horse owners on juries for people accused of being a horse thieves? I can’t imagine a horse owner being able to be impartial knowing the costs involved in owning and caring for a horse as important as they were in those days. How would a horse thief ever get a fair trial?