do you guys get harrassed for jury duty?

[YouDontKnowJack]

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it seems like i get more jury duty summons than anyone else in the state. i just went on jury duty in 2003. now they want me to go again. there are millions of other adults in california to choose from.

i know they probably don't know that we're away for school, but how often do you guys get called for jury duty?

those bastards want us to help them out, and then they turn around and sue us when we're doctors. 🙄

i'm just gonna ignore the summons and pretend i never got it.

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

i know they probably don't know that we're away for school, but how often do you guys get called for jury duty?

those bastards want us to help them out, and then they turn around and sue us when we're doctors. 🙄

i'm just gonna ignore the summons and pretend i never got it.

I'm going to skip the righteous "this is your civic duty in our democratic society" BS and hit the hight points:

1) How could they possilby know that you are away for school if you don't tell them? By the same token, if you do tell them you are a student out of state until year X they will take you off their list for the next two years.

2) Technically, it would be the plaintiff's attorneys who sue us when we are doctors; "those bastards that want us to help them out" now are just some poor clerk in the courthouse trying to round up 200 warm bodies for a week or so.

3) I think ignoring the summons is a great idea. If you are careful to ignore the subsequent bench warrant that will be issued in your name then it should be easy to ignore the hassle with the police officer who discovers said warrant the next time you get pulled over for speeding or running a red light. Perhaps you'll get really lucky and the state licensing board will ignore it when they run a background check on you.

I have been summoned to jury duty four times since I got out of school; three of those times happened when I was self-employed, which required me to juggle my work, client interviews, and the lack of income. It happens. I have seen practicing doctors, lawyers, city councilmen, mothers, businessmen, students, teachers, and scientists all sit on juries. They lived, and some actually learned a thing or two. It is a small price to pay for the opportunity to directly participate in governing ourselves. Just breath deeply and I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[ShyRem]

Don't ignore it. Call the jury commissioner and tell them you're a student.

 

[pillowhead]

it seems like i get more jury duty summons than anyone else in the state. i just went on jury duty in 2003. now they want me to go again. there are millions of other adults in california to choose from.

i know they probably don't know that we're away for school, but how often do you guys get called for jury duty?

those bastards want us to help them out, and then they turn around and sue us when we're doctors. 🙄

i'm just gonna ignore the summons and pretend i never got it.

You haven't been called in almost three years and you're complaining about it? 9 or 10 months is more typical for me.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

I have been summoned to jury duty four times since I got out of school; three of those times happened when I was self-employed, which required me to juggle my work, client interviews, and the lack of income. It happens. I have seen practicing doctors, lawyers, city councilmen, mothers, businessmen, students, teachers, and scientists all sit on juries. They lived, and some actually learned a thing or two. It is a small price to pay for the opportunity to directly participate in governing ourselves. Just breath deeply and I'm sure you'll be fine.

I was talking to a resident who had been summoned and was expected to use her vacation time to serve. She ended up getting out of it because the program got involved, but its disturbing to me that we would actually be expected to use a couple weeks of vacation for this s h i t, considering we only get 3 weeks during an academic year. Yeah I cant wait to sit on a jury.

 

[deuist]

Call the court and say that you've moved. I've gotten out of jury duty twice using that method. If you must, change your address through the DMV's website as proof.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

yeah, i just wanted to see if we students get summoned more often than not. My parents haven't gotten a summons in years.

when i was in undergrad, i got a bunch of jury summons. i deferred and deferred, and after 3 times, i wasn't allowed to use the "i'm a student" excuse anymore. In fact, in Los Angeles, being a "full time student" isn't even an acceptable excuse. The more you defer, the more they harrass you.

If i told them that I'm a med student, which means that I won't be in California at least for another 6 years until post-residency, I bet they still wouldn't take me off their list.

If they flew me to los angeles all expenses paid, i might consider. But there's no way I'm going home just to do jury duty.

 

[JonnyG]

One solution: DONT vote that is how they update their roles

second solution: Being a medical student and subsequently a doctor is always a valid excuse (at least in PA) You have pateints that may need your attention at any moment.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

One solution: DONT vote that is how they update their roles

second solution: Being a medical student and subsequently a doctor is always a valid excuse (at least in PA) You have pateints that may need your attention at any moment.

I made the stupid mistake of registering to vote in 2000. it was too late when i realized my mistake.

Los angeles is gay. they don't care if you're a student.

 

[Hard24Get]

This is sad. I'm sure we can think of a million ways to get out of jury duty and come up with excuses for not voting. So who is left to do it? The Dummies of America, of course, of which there are plenty, quite frankly. No wonder all arms of our government are going down the crapper... Go and participate in voting and jury duty, dammit, I'm tired of stupid people running the world 😡

 

[Law2Doc]

second solution: Being a medical student and subsequently a doctor is always a valid excuse (at least in PA) You have pateints that may need your attention at any moment.

This is actually not a defense to serving on a jury in most jurisdictions.

 

[synapse lapse]

One solution: DONT vote that is how they update their roles

second solution: Being a medical student and subsequently a doctor is always a valid excuse (at least in PA) You have pateints that may need your attention at any moment.

Yeah then you conveniently get to drop 2 of your civic duties Come on man we are lucky to live in this democratic system...of course here being a student exempts you.

 

[JonnyG]

This is actually not a defense to serving on a jury in most jurisdictions.

Its worked for me and quite a few Docs I know. Then again its never been really hard to get out of jury duty.

I found lots of ways to get out of it at my old job because I wasn't compensated on days spent on jury duty. 5 dollars just doesn't makes up for the 200 I would have lost from not working that day.

 

[YouDontKnowJack]

3) I think ignoring the summons is a great idea. If you are careful to ignore the subsequent bench warrant that will be issued in your name then it should be easy to ignore the hassle with the police officer who discovers said warrant the next time you get pulled over for speeding or running a red light. Perhaps you'll get really lucky and the state licensing board will ignore it when they run a background check on you.

they'd waste resources issuing a bench warrant and sending the US marshalls after me in another state just for measly jury duty.


it's time for others to do their jury duty. there are 7,200,000 adults in the Los angeles area as of year 2000. What ever happened to the concept of random drawing? They must have stupid selection algorithms, and somehow I fit them perfectly.

 

[QofQuimica]

it seems like i get more jury duty summons than anyone else in the state. i just went on jury duty in 2003. now they want me to go again. there are millions of other adults in california to choose from.

i know they probably don't know that we're away for school, but how often do you guys get called for jury duty?

those bastards want us to help them out, and then they turn around and sue us when we're doctors. 🙄

i'm just gonna ignore the summons and pretend i never got it.

Well, assuming you didn't have to sign for the summons, there isn't any way they can prove that you received it, is there? How would they know it didn't get "lost in the mail?" If you're like a lot of students, you probably move around quite a bit, so it wouldn't be all that surprising if you didn't receive it for real. On the other hand, if you had to sign for it, you're screwed. You'd better tell them that you aren't living in CA any more in that case. Or, just go for the selection, and make sure to give really screwy, biased answers when they question you.

I actually got into an argument with the prosecutor the last time I was called for jury duty. (Seriously) Our exchange was completely inane and would have been hysterical if I had seen it in a movie. First he asked me if I liked Star Trek, and I said yes. And he talked about Scottie and how Scottie always told Jim that he (Scottie) couldn't change the laws of physics. Then he (the prosecutor) asked me if I would be willing to consider the possibility that the laws of physics could be suspended, and I said no. And he kept trying to get me to say that there might be a way for such a thing to be POSSIBLE. And I kept saying, no, there was NOT any way, that the laws of physics could not EVER be suspended, no matter what he said. So he asked me what I would think if he told me that they HAD been suspended, and I told him that I'd think he was crazy. (The rest of the jurors and the defense attorneys chuckled, but the humor was lost on the prosecutor.) Then he asked me what I do, and I said I'm a chemist. At that point, he finally gave up on me and went on to the next person, who gave him the answer he wanted. Needless to say, I did not get selected to serve. 😀

 

[anon-y-mouse]

Can you just show up, but act really really conservative / biased? Wouldn't they dismiss you that way?

 

[ShyRem]

If it's a criminal case, make sure you say "Police NEVER arrest innocent people!" and the defense will strike you right then and there.

 

[Hard24Get]

I still say you should all be ashamed of yourselves!!! Don't you have any care at all for the direction the country/world is heading towards thanks to your DEVIL MAY CARE ATTITUDE!!!!!!!!! Shirk responsibility if you will, but at least have the self-respect to be just a little ashmed of it!

 

[njbmd]

it seems like i get more jury duty summons than anyone else in the state. i just went on jury duty in 2003. now they want me to go again. there are millions of other adults in california to choose from.

i know they probably don't know that we're away for school, but how often do you guys get called for jury duty?

those bastards want us to help them out, and then they turn around and sue us when we're doctors. 🙄

i'm just gonna ignore the summons and pretend i never got it.

Hi there,
When I got the summons, I called the court and told them that I was a medical student. They dismissed me because it was deemed too harmful to my studies to have me serve.

Later, when I became a resident, I was dismissed because the defense attorney was afraid that my understanding of scientific evidence and my profession (physician) may place undue strain on the rest of the jurors (go figure??). I guess they were looking for idiots that day.

Do not ignore the summons. Answer it very quickly and do not wait until the last minute. The odds are that you are going to be dismissed.

njbmd 🙂

 

[physicsnerd42]

If it's a criminal case, make sure you say "Police NEVER arrest innocent people!" and the defense will strike you right then and there.

Yeah, you could get thrown in jail by the judge for contempt of court/perjury for that.

 

[Law2Doc]

they'd waste resources issuing a bench warrant and sending the US marshalls after me in another state just for measly jury duty.

Um, no, they wouldn't send any marshals or leave the state. As the prior poster indicated, they issue the summons and enter it into the computer (which is now interconnected with most jurisdictions). Then when you get pulled over for a traffic violation, or go to get a license, it shows up, and you are nabbed. The hassle this will create for you is not insignificant.

 

[Law2Doc]

If it's a criminal case, make sure you say "Police NEVER arrest innocent people!" and the defense will strike you right then and there.

There are no shortage of things you could say that might get you booted. You could be pro-death penalty (especially effective in a petty larceny case ). You could say you took one look at the defendant and know he's guilty (even better if you are pointing to the judge at the time. ).

 

[OSUdoc08]

it seems like i get more jury duty summons than anyone else in the state. i just went on jury duty in 2003. now they want me to go again. there are millions of other adults in california to choose from.

i know they probably don't know that we're away for school, but how often do you guys get called for jury duty?

those bastards want us to help them out, and then they turn around and sue us when we're doctors. 🙄

i'm just gonna ignore the summons and pretend i never got it.

You do realize that you are not required to to jury duty as a student (or a physician.) You NEVER have to do jury duty.

Write "STUDENT" on the form, and return it, and you are exempt from your duties.

 

[akpete]

I find it interesting that some of you have been called for jury duty multiple times, whereas I never have been, and out of all my relatives, my mom has done it once, and that's the only person I can think of.

 

[Law2Doc]

You do realize that you are not required to to jury duty as a student (or a physician.) You NEVER have to do jury duty.

Write "STUDENT" on the form, and return it, and you are exempt from your duties.

As I said above, this is simply not true in every jurisdiction. In some states, being a med student or doctor is not an exemption.

 

[QofQuimica]

I still say you should all be ashamed of yourselves!!! Don't you have any care at all for the direction the country/world is heading towards thanks to your DEVIL MAY CARE ATTITUDE!!!!!!!!! Shirk responsibility if you will, but at least have the self-respect to be just a little ashmed of it!

I have to say that my experiences with being summoned for jury duty have left me so underwhelmed that although I would not go so far as to ignore a summons myself, I completely understand why someone would choose to do so. I disliked that prosecutor in my previous example so much after our little volley that I would have had a difficult time not being prejudiced, all right, but prejudiced against HIM, not against the defendent. I mean, I felt like voting for acquittal then and there just to knock that SOB down a peg or two. 🙄 It's all well and good to pontificate about responsibility and civic duty, but the reality of serving on a jury isn't at all like what you learn about in your high school law studies course or see on TV.

 

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

I have to say that my experiences with being summoned for jury duty have left me so underwhelmed that although I would not go so far as to ignore a summons myself, I completely understand why someone would choose to do so. I disliked that prosecutor in my previous example so much after our little volley that I would have had a difficult time not being prejudiced, all right, but prejudiced against HIM, not against the defendent. I mean, I felt like voting for acquittal then and there just to knock that SOB down a peg or two. 🙄 It's all well and good to pontificate about responsibility and civic duty, but the reality of serving on a jury isn't at all like what you learn about in your high school law studies course or see on TV.

Tsk tsk Q, have you forgotten whom you're talking to? I've personally been involved in over fifty trials. I have never served on a jury -- for some reason I never make it past voir dire -- but I think I've got a pretty good idea what the reality of jury service is like.

I agree, many prosecutors are self-righteous SOBs. Similarly, many defense attorneys are bleeding-heart commies. So what? That's all the more reason to be part of the process, so you can have some say in how the laws are enforced. I see absolutely no difference between refusing to answer a jury summons vs. failing to vote. It's not supposed to be all fun and games and mai tais and yahtzee -- that's why they call it jury "duty" and not "happy fun-time!"

Do you like the idea of medicinal marijuana? Do you hate it? That has been a hot-button topic in California since the passage of Proposition 215. How about the death penalty? Love it or hate it? Either way, if you don't sit on that jury your voice never gets heard. Or, closer to home, do you think too many medical malpractice cases are filed? Serve on a civil case and tell The Man how you feel.

But hey -- what do I know? I'm just a guy who slept through his high school civics class.

 

[physicsnerd42]

Tsk tsk Q, have you forgotten whom you're talking to? I've personally been involved in over fifty trials. I have never served on a jury -- for some reason I never make it past voir dire -- but I think I've got a pretty good idea what the reality of jury service is like.

I agree, many prosecutors are self-righteous SOBs. Similarly, many defense attorneys are bleeding-heart commies. So what? That's all the more reason to be part of the process, so you can have some say in how the laws are enforced. I see absolutely no difference between refusing to answer a jury summons vs. failing to vote. It's not supposed to be all fun and games and mai tais and yahtzee -- that's why they call it jury "duty" and not "happy fun-time!"

Do you like the idea of medicinal marijuana? Do you hate it? That has been a hot-button topic in California since the passage of Proposition 215. How about the death penalty? Love it or hate it? Either way, if you don't sit on that jury your voice never gets heard. Or, closer to home, do you think too many medical malpractice cases are filed? Serve on a civil case and tell The Man how you feel.

But hey -- what do I know? I'm just a guy who slept through his high school civics class.

Yeah, the one fun part of jury duty that I could think of is the possibility that you might get a case (like medical marijuana) where you could use your right to jury nullification

 

[QofQuimica]

Tsk tsk Q, have you forgotten whom you're talking to? I've personally been involved in over fifty trials. I have never served on a jury -- for some reason I never make it past voir dire -- but I think I've got a pretty good idea what the reality of jury service is like.

I agree, many prosecutors are self-righteous SOBs. Similarly, many defense attorneys are bleeding-heart commies. So what? That's all the more reason to be part of the process, so you can have some say in how the laws are enforced. I see absolutely no difference between refusing to answer a jury summons vs. failing to vote. It's not supposed to be all fun and games and mai tais and yahtzee -- that's why they call it jury "duty" and not "happy fun-time!"

Do you like the idea of medicinal marijuana? Do you hate it? That has been a hot-button topic in California since the passage of Proposition 215. How about the death penalty? Love it or hate it? Either way, if you don't sit on that jury your voice never gets heard. Or, closer to home, do you think too many medical malpractice cases are filed? Serve on a civil case and tell The Man how you feel.

But hey -- what do I know? I'm just a guy who slept through his high school civics class.

I detest all of you lawyers....you and your word-twisting and your not knowing what the meaning of "is" is. 😛

I understand what you're saying. But somehow, 2Sexy, I never get called on a case like that. I think they are very rare, the exception rather than the rule. Most cases are boring at best, and downright disturbing at worst. (Like the OP, I have also been called several times.) My last one (with the Star Trek prosecutor who didn't know what the meaning of "possible" is) was for a sexual battery case against a child. I'm going, geez, I don't want to hear about this stuff or see pictures or whatever else they're going to do to try to prove that he did it. It would probably give me nightmares. Plus, I don't need to sit on a jury and hear about the excruciating details of what was done to this child to know that I believe that raping a child is wrong and ought to be illegal. I think that the laws prohibiting child rape are good ones, and no jury nullification is going to come out of these cases.

I understand that someone needs to figure out if that man is guilty or innocent, but frankly, a trained judge could probably do a better job. People would argue that then he isn't being judged by his peers, but really, are any of the members of the jury truly this man's peers? I guess I am not a huge believer in trials by jury at all. It's too easy for the lawyers to manipulate the jurors, since we have less training in law, psychology, etc. than they do. Can I do jury nullification of trials by jury by sitting on a jury???