Jury Duty

[suzzycowgirl]

I got my notice to appear for jury duty one day. Now I have trouble with the idea of judging people even in the privacy of my own mind and find the idea of judging someone so they can be punished is beyond anything I wanted to involve myself with. But nevertheless I found myself in a court room listening to some person up front telling us the responsibilities of being a good juror. But when he came to the part which asked if anyone here had any reason to feel he or she would not make a good juror, I raised my hand. Well the person up front was not happy with me and asked me to join him for a little talk. I told him it was against my religion to do this juror number. So he made me follow him to the middle of the courtroom where the judge was talking to the defense attorney and the prosecuting attorney. My new friend reluctantly interrupted the judge and started to whisper to him while pointing at me. Finally the judge came over to me and asked me what the problem was. I told him I didn't think I could handle the karma of this situation. He said, what do you mean karma? So I started to spell the word out for him but half way through the spelling his face started to turn red and I could tell he figured out what I was talking about because he was having a difficult time controlling his temper. He pointed at the chair I came from and told me I'd better get back there. He didn't seem to want to hear anything else I had to say so I went back to my chair in the jury box. Then before the trial the prosecuting attorney was asked if he thought there was anyone on the jury who was unfit. Well he looked at me and then he looked at the judge and said he thought everyone was fine. I just shook my head and mumbled, Oh brother. But finally the defense attorney was asked the same question and he didn't look at anybody, he just pointed to me and said. "you're out of here". I got up and mumbled under my breath that I would like it if God didn't always wait till the very last second to make his move. I did not look at Mr Judge on my way out.

[Daughter of Time]

Since you believe in karma, then you could score some karma points by being grateful for getting out of jury duty. The fact that you had to wait a little while, matters not!

I also was called for jury duty some years ago. As a self employed person, I rely on work for income and if I don't work, I don't get paid, unlike companies which have to pay their employees while on jury duty, I don't work for any such company regularly. I was so glad to get out of that one!

A male friend of mine gave the excuse that he had prostate problem (which he said was not true) and might have to leave the courtroom at any given moment. He got out.

Your "karma" reason served you well. I'm laughing while thinking about what the judge must have thought. Well, good for you!

Congratulations!

[robinr1]

jury duty summons come regular mail....u never ever have to go.

[wnlight]

In Texas, the prosecutor must reveal his case to the prospective jury prior to jury selection. That law is called voir dire. In one case, I told the prosecutor that in no way could I convict the defendant on this paltry evidence. The judge had me out of the room before I said another word. When I look back on my actions, I feel that I was too hasty. I wonder if the jury convicted that black man identified by an elderly white woman in a dark parking lot. I wonder if I should have kept my mouth shut and, if picked for the jury, helped him to get a fare trial.

[Octavusprime]

I love your resolve in the face of adversity and admire your strength! The world works in mysterious ways.

I would add my thought on the jury system however. I respect you for not wanting to judge others but in many cases the people being judged are fighting for their very freedom. If one person on the jury has reasonable doubt of guilt it can make the difference between freedom or confinement. It is a great burden but if I was sitting in handcuffs knowing I was innocent, I would pray that someone with good heart and understanding could speak for me in the chambers of judgement.

Just some food for thought.

Cheers,

Octavusprime

[Octavusprime]

Posted by wnlight (here)
In Texas, the prosecutor must reveal his case to the prospective jury prior to jury selection. That law is called voir dire. In one case, I told the prosecutor that in no way could I convict the defendant on this paltry evidence. The judge had me out of the room before I said another word. When I look back on my actions, I feel that I was too hasty. I wonder if the jury convicted that black man identified by an elderly white woman in a dark parking lot. I wonder if I should have kept my mouth shut and, if picked for the jury, helped him to get a fare trial.

Ha! You beat me to it. I got distracted while typing.

The system can be brutal. Any action we can take to make it more fair and balanced I feel is worth the inconvenience.

[suzzycowgirl]

Thank you, daughter of time, for your kind thoughts on this matter. I am very grateful that my prayers were answered and I was delivered from such an overwhelming situation through my awareness.

[suzzycowgirl]

Hi robinr1, I always felt I was being forced to go.

[suzzycowgirl]

Hi wnlight, It just seems to me that trying to find justice through our court system is very unreliable. I won't take the chance of causing so much unnecessary pain.

[suzzycowgirl]

Thanks Octavusprime for you kind words. It's true that more enlightened people on a jury would reduce the amount of needless pain but I found myself trying to keep from being a victim of the system. Christ climbed up on the cross of his judicial system but I'm just not ready to tackle ours, lol

[Selkie]

Posted by suzzycowgirl (here)
I got my notice to appear for jury duty one day. Now I have trouble with the idea of judging people even in the privacy of my own mind and find the idea of judging someone so they can be punished is beyond anything I wanted to involve myself with. But nevertheless I found myself in a court room listening to some person up front telling us the responsibilities of being a good juror. But when he came to the part which asked if anyone here had any reason to feel he or she would not make a good juror, I raised my hand. Well the person up front was not happy with me and asked me to join him for a little talk. I told him it was against my religion to do this juror number. So he made me follow him to the middle of the courtroom where the judge was talking to the defense attorney and the prosecuting attorney. My new friend reluctantly interrupted the judge and started to whisper to him while pointing at me. Finally the judge came over to me and asked me what the problem was. I told him I didn't think I could handle the karma of this situation. He said, what do you mean karma? So I started to spell the word out for him but half way through the spelling his face started to turn red and I could tell he figured out what I was talking about because he was having a difficult time controlling his temper. He pointed at the chair I came from and told me I'd better get back there. He didn't seem to want to hear anything else I had to say so I went back to my chair in the jury box. Then before the trial the prosecuting attorney was asked if he thought there was anyone on the jury who was unfit. Well he looked at me and then he looked at the judge and said he thought everyone was fine. I just shook my head and mumbled, Oh brother. But finally the defense attorney was asked the same question and he didn't look at anybody, he just pointed to me and said. "you're out of here". I got up and mumbled under my breath that I would like it if God didn't always wait till the very last second to make his move. I did not look at Mr Judge on my way out.

If you really want to **** off a judge, just tell him (respectfully and politely) that you believe in jury nullification. They'll bounce you right out of there

[suzzycowgirl]

hey Silkie, Not sure what jury nullification is but whatever works. I would like to meet John Lamb Lash.

[Selkie]

Posted by suzzycowgirl (here)
hey Silkie, Not sure what jury nullification is but whatever works. I would like to meet John Lamb Lash.

Here, I looked it up for you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification


an addition If you want to meet JLL, just write to him.

[suzzycowgirl]

ok thanks for the link, I guess I don't believe in a lot of the laws so it's true, I believe in Jury nullification.

[Selkie]

Posted by suzzycowgirl (here)
ok thanks for the link, I guess I don't believe in a lot of the laws so it's true, I believe in Jury nullification.

If you meet JLL, maybe you will be the next one to dump him.

[suzzycowgirl]

Posted by Silkie (here)

Posted by suzzycowgirl (here)
ok thanks for the link, I guess I don't believe in a lot of the laws so it's true, I believe in Jury nullification.

If you meet JLL, maybe you will be the next one to dump him.

Probably if I ever find him lol

[Kryztian]

Great story. As someone unhappy about how jurors are treated and how arbitrary jury service is, I love a good story about getting off of jury duty. Congratulations

It is the judge's responsibility to treat people fairly and decently according to their religious beliefs. I am horrified about how disrespectful his was to you. It sounds like you were sincere in your beliefs and he should have treated you thusly.

If I were the judge, however, I would have said: "My dear, I am impressed by your understanding that earthly human justice is far from the perfect, unlike divine universal karmic justice. You are obviously are very wise individual. If you were not to serve on this jury, then we would have to admit someone else onto this jury, and in all likelihood, they will not share your wisdom and capability. That person may have a different understanding of the evidence and testimony that is to be presented here and they may understand it's significance differently. The may vote differently than you and it could be a the swing vote that causes the jury to reach a different verdict. What if that verdict were wrong, and an innocent person received a harsh punishment they did deserve, only because you were unwilling to serve on the jury? Or conversely, what if that person was guilty of the crime, and the replacement juror swung that vote and had them declared innocent - what if that person went on to enact more crimes, or encourages others to commit the same crime saying "see, you won't get caught." There will be a lot of victims to those crimes and their suffering will weigh in on your karma. Are you sure your karma can handle that my dear???"

[suzzycowgirl]

hi Kryztian, You certainly have a way with words, lol Lovely! But listening to evidence and making judgements are the work of the intellect. I am not an intellectual because I don't believe my intellect can take me where I need to go. I only use my intellect as a tool of my soul and my soul says I'm not ready to be responsible for the karma of other random people.

[Marcus Du Noir]

I got called up several years ago over here in the UK. I dreaded it for I didnt want to take part, but you cant avoid it. Several other members of the jury team in the case we observed spoke of being called up several times which puzzled me when you consider the way in which people are picked. They all looked well dressed and spoke with "breeding" which lead me to suspect that they were masons of something similar...I know, just a wild idea.

[suzzycowgirl]

Posted by Marcus Du Noir (here)
I got called up several years ago over here in the UK. I dreaded it for I didnt want to take part, but you cant avoid it.

This is pretty much how I felt about the whole thing. I was very happy to get out of it. Thanks for the comment.