by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2008/04/06 03:01 -04:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2008/04/06/8362341.aspx
Content of Michael Kaplan's personal blog not approved by Microsoft (see disclaimer)!
Regular readers should keep in mind that all I said in The End? still applies; the allusion to the X-Files continues for people who understand such references....
I actually don't fully understand what happened.
I was asked to report for jury duty.
No worries, I thought. All I cared about was whether or not all of the places I might have to be were accessible. I assumed I had to serve since I had already been excused once, pre-scooter.
So I asked in the bit of the form that gave me space to do so about the accessibility.
After hearing nothing back and with the date approaching, I called the number to ask directly and see what was up.
And I was told that I had been excused from jury duty.
I haven't decided how I feel about this just yet.
Part of me realizes that they have not just done me a favor, they have done both the prosecutor and the defendant a great favor as well -- if I were either of them I would probably be willing to burn a peremptory challenge on the likes of me, just to keep me off the panel.
But I am to be honest at a loss as to why it happened, or whether I should be upset or not.
I mean even ignoring the old joke about how unfair the whole system is since a "jury of one's peers" is unlikely to be found in finding twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty, should I be offended?
Since I'd rather not actually serve, should I just be happy that I have been excused from doing so?
I should probably just forget about it.
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# Wesner Moise on 6 Apr 2008 5:20 AM:
I was excused from jury duty last week. Procedural changes led to a mass discharge of jury duties for those serving after March 31.
# John Cowan on 6 Apr 2008 1:31 PM:
I can't get Norman Goodman off my back; every four months or so, he sends me a notice, and I duly get a doctor's letter saying I can't serve, and the cycle repeats.
# mdmhvonpa on 7 Apr 2008 9:20 AM:
How much do you want to bet that the courthouse is not ADA compliant.
# Phil ( avoid Jury Duty ) Jones on 9 May 2008 5:47 AM:
Just came across this guy - www.offinia.com - listing valid ways to get out of jury duty. It might be "unconstitutional" but it can't help to know!! ;-)
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