View Full Version : Jury duty
Don't know if this belongs here exactly, but here goes...
I received a summons for jury service about a month ago. Had to call Friday after 4:30 to find out if I had to report tomorrow. Yep, I do. The worst part of it? It's Crook (Cook) County Criminal Court, 26th & California, in a really crappy south side Chicago neighborhood. The Cook County jail is located right there, as well. I have a friend whose husband is a Cook County sheriff's deputy and works at the jail. He passed word through his wife who told me to not even think about taking public transit. I was told to drive, and since there is a secured parking garage for jurors, to have my pistol on me (I have my concealed carry permit) and lock it in my car while in the courthouse.
I would be very surprised if I was actually picked for a jury. They really don't want someone of my ilk on a jury. I'm very far from being impartial, plus as a reporter years ago I covered police and courts. Then there's the gun owning, concealed carry permit, NRA/IL State Rifle Assoc member thing. :0! ;)
The people watching tomorrow should be fantastic! I'm sure I'll have any number of weirdo stories.
rodeosweetheart
8-3-14, 4:21pm
I was always so glad when I lived in Cook County that I did not get called for jury duty at that courthouse.
You will obviously be fine with your car and the parking situation.
I was on a jury in South Carolina a year ago and it was surprisingly stressful. I have no idea why I got picked. Unless you volunteer some of the things you mention here, they may not figure them out--I was married to a trial lawyer for years, was a paralegal--but no one asked.
On the bright side, it was an interesting experience and it was fun to see the jury mind at work--very true, there is a wisdom in a jury that surpasses the individual parts of the jury.
I was always so glad when I lived in Cook County that I did not get called for jury duty at that courthouse.
You will obviously be fine with your car and the parking situation.
I was on a jury in South Carolina a year ago and it was surprisingly stressful. I have no idea why I got picked. Unless you volunteer some of the things you mention here, they may not figure them out--I was married to a trial lawyer for years, was a paralegal--but no one asked.
I'm not volunteering the info I'm a gun owner unless absolutely necessary. Of course, the questions depend on the type of case. Who knows, my work as a customs broker, having to be very aware of the fed laws and regulations, might be a bad thing?! I'm very by the book, so I take an extremely dim view of the run of the mill thugs and gang bangers who go through that courthouse.
Having to be gone from work is a major problem. More than the one day is going to make work miserable. I've been working 60+ hour weeks for some time now. I was in the office until 9:30 Friday evening trying to finish up everything that might need to be done for tomorrow, but I was so tired, I had to call it a night. Some stuff didn't get done and had to be left for others.
We are all regularly on juries in my neighborhood and a fair number of those are murder trials. DH was on a murder trial as were several of our friends, and some of those friends were even jury foremen. We have a lot of experience with that stuff here in Murder City.
Tradd, you have no idea if they will want you or not, they don't want "impartial" they want someone whose demographic will indicate you may lean pro or con perp. The prosecutor gets to pick half and the defense gets to pick half.
I used to have a theory about being picked, and that is: if you want to be picked, speak up during the question and answer time of voir dire, make yourself known and one side will pick you. But then, the last time I didn't say a word other than to answer the questions that each person had to answer, I was picked for the jury. It was a drug deal. It's my gender, race, profession, and age that did it, most likely.
I've been on 3 juries. 2 of them civil and 1 of them criminal.
DH works for himself and so doesn't have an employer to pay for him to serve jury duty, but he goes and doesn't ask to be let off due to hardship because that loss of income doesn't really matter to us. But the sad thing is that judges let lots of independent workers, the self employed, off for hardship, and those are the guys who should be on these juries in this city, representing the community.
And then there are the mommies who don't have anyone to watch their babies while they are serving and they plead that to the judge as well. Eye-roll. And then there are the people who are afraid to be on a jury because the perps will come 'n get 'em. double eye-roll.
You will see a level of humanity in the jury room that you wish you didn't have to know about.
I have to report on Aug 21. This is only the second time I've been called; the last time was in 2002 and I served six weeks on a medical malpractice trial. I found it quite interesting. At the time, the nature of my job was such that missing that much time from work (although court was actually only in session four days per week) wasn't a big problem. That's no longer the case, so I'm not eager to serve again unless it's just a matter of a few days. Serving longer than that wouldn't necessarily be a hardship, but it would be a headache.
I served I guess it's been just over 2 years. Was actually excited to have the opportunity to serve. My case had two defendants and involved our local police. We found one guilty and one hung jury - we were there till 3 a.m. that last night of jury deliberations.....we were served really good BBQ.The sheriff offered to have courthouse staff drive us all home if we felt like we couldn't safely drive the county roads at 3 a.m. (some of us had 40 miles to drive). My husbands first and only time to be called to jury duty was in his home state of SC. I think he was 21 and it was a murder trial.
awakenedsoul
8-3-14, 11:07pm
When I was younger, I received a jury summons a few years in a row. I was very stressed by it at the time, because I couldn't afford to miss work. Back then, I was just making it, financially. (teaching ballet and yoga.) I wasn't picked. One of the lawyers asked me, "Have you ever filed a restraining order?" I answered "Yes." (I think this was a murder case.) I remember that guy's face to this day. I gave a very opinionated response: "I can tell just by looking at him that he did it." I can't believe I said that now. I guess I was desperate. It felt truthful, and it got me off the jury so that I could go to work. Now that I can afford to do jury duty, I would enjoy it. I find court cases fascinating. I hope things work out for you in your situation. Sorry to hear it's in such a dangerous area.
gave a very opinionated response: "I can tell just by looking at him that he did it." I can't believe I said that now. I guess I was desperate. It felt truthful, and it got me off the jury so that I could go to work. Now that I can afford to do jury duty, I would enjoy it. I find court cases fascinating. I hope things work out for you in your situation. Sorry to hear it's in such a dangerous area.
When it comes to these gang bangers and thugs, I'm already of the opinion they're guilty.
I cannot afford the time for this. If things weren't so crazy at work and we weren't shorthanded it might be different, but I'm also looking at a horrid drive in the morning. I'm allowing 2.5 hours.
It's a good thing there's a cafeteria in the building. The deputy told me to not leave the building for lunch. It will be nice having time to read, but that's about the only positive of the entire thing.
Something I noticed in the three rounds of questions they asked us before they made their final decisions was that the questions they asked had nothing to do with what happened that brought about the court case.
I was on a jury in South Carolina a year ago and it was surprisingly stressful.
I was on a jury once, for a person up for an armed robbery of a convenience store, and I learned a lot about myself. I did not find the experience enjoyable at all. If I had to do it over, I would have done a couple of things differently.
ToomuchStuff
8-4-14, 10:00am
I would hope being on a jury is stressful; you have someones life/money in your hands! I've been summoned, but never picked. Either knew someone involved in the case, had something similar happen (been prejudiced), etc.
I would hope being on a jury is stressful; you have someones life/money in your hands! I've been summoned, but never picked. Either knew someone involved in the case, had something similar happen (been prejudiced), etc.
The case that I sat on might have been more stressful had the case itself not been so patently ridiculous--it was one of those "frivolous lawsuits" that Republicans are always complaining about. The plaintiff was suing two neurologists whom she claimed had mistreated her for Lyme Disease, when it was abundantly clear that she had MS, just as the two doctors had diagnosed. As the trial progressed it was obvious that not only had they treated her correctly, they'd even gone to extra mile to try and track her down when she disappeared after several visits. (One of the docs was still expressing concern to me about this woman getting proper treatment when we spoke after the trial had ended.)
The plaintiff's craziness became manifest so early in the trial that it was much easier to view the whole thing as an academic exercise--while still feeling badly about what the two doctors were being put through-- since the final outcome was never in doubt.
Just got home in one piece. Thankfully, the "group" I was in was never even called into a courtroom. The neighborhood, though, is seriously scary. I'm very glad I was able to carry there and back. I had about a 2.5 mile drive on city surface streets once I got off the highway. The neighborhood needs to be burned and razed.
The people in the security line this morning would have fit right in with the People of Walmart videos. Sheesh. What a freak show.
The people in the security line this morning would have fit right in with the People of Walmart videos. Sheesh. What a freak show.
And remember, that's going to be *your* juror pool if you are ever tried.... :-)
I have had jury duty multiple times, the experience has varied between good and horrid, but it is a duty.
One civil case went on for over 3 weeks, it involved injuries from a traffic accident. Weeks of medical testimony and accident reconstruction testimony. What a nightmare, as it was in Silicon Valley, the jury contained several engineers and an actual rocket scientist, and it was evident 10 minutes into the case that the accident simply could not have happened in the way described, and that this was purely an attempt to scam the other side's insurance company.
The winning testimony was the injured party's long-time doctor, who had been mysteriously out-of-town for months on vacation, until he got brought in by the defense on the very last day as quite a surprise, and who testified that all of the injuries were pre-existing conditions that the plaintiff had been under treatment for decades for.... Surprise!
I have jury duty in another week or so, I doubt they will select me this time, as I am pretty sure the defendant is a guy I spent an evening subduing, tranquilizing, strapping to a gurney, and evacuating by helicopter to the mainland for treatment. It is possible I would have a bias, since I saw the house full of women and children he had beaten and abused before we bagged him that night. Still, I'd keep an open mind...promise :-)
Bae, the freak show participants were there for other trials, to support friends/family. They were NOT the folks I sat in the huge jury waiting room with. Crook is a pretty big county and there were lots of nice looking suburbanite types.
Around here if you aren't called in but left to sit in the waiting room they can still call you back over the next few months.
When we lived in Harris County (Houston), I was called almost every other year. I have been on several juries, both civil and criminal. I consider it one of the responsibilities of citizenship. Tradd, I'm glad you made it safely there and back. We are out in the country (Fort Bend County) now and I've been called twice but not put on a jury either time.
Around here if you aren't called in but left to sit in the waiting room they can still call you back over the next few months.
Nope, for Cook County, even if you're not called, you're set for the next year.
Blackdog Lin
8-6-14, 9:03pm
I'm glad you got it over with Tradd, safely and in one piece. (though I simply cannot imagine living in such a city).
I've always considered it very weird that in 37 years of "adult living", I've only been called for jury duty once. In a rural county of maybe 40,000 souls. I got called up in 2001 or so, and since my employer was required to pay me for having jury duty, I was kinda looking forward to playing hooky from work and seeing how it all worked and all, you know? But alas, after getting picked for the jury, a DUI case, and the selectants adjourning for coffee and doughnuts while (other stuff happened? I didn't know.), we were told that a settlement had been reached and that was that.
I'm glad you got it over with Tradd, safely and in one piece. (though I simply cannot imagine living in such a city).
You have to understand that there are parts of Chicago that are relatively nice and crime free, there are other parts that are, well, ghetto. All the shootings you might hear about - mainly on the south and west sides.
I live 25 miles out in the burbs.
heck, in just driving down one street in Indianapolis, you pass thru one of the oldest most desireable areas to a ghetto with some shot out windows and in a few blocks are right back into a fully revitalized area. It can be that fast. Of course, there are specific old housing areas that are run down (think slum lord) and were crime is a constant threat. I may have posted before that Habitat for Humanity had to pull out of at least one due to daytime gang threats.
But there are huge swaths of really nice places to live and I suspect most cities all over the world are just the same. I personally would rather live big city than suburbs or small town.
Never been even called for jury duty in 20 yrs of adulthood. But reading your post makes me particularly glad esp when I lived in Houston and Phoenix. Would have been a real problem in Houston because I didn't have a car.
One of my friends in Boulder sat on a jury and it had sonething to do with whether a perp spit on a cop, and the jury was filled with PhDs and Master's degrees. Funny the difference btwn stories from various places around the country!
mschrisgo2
8-10-14, 12:38am
Only been called for jury duty twice, once when my daughter was just 5 weeks old and I was nursing her; took her with me, sat in the selection room for a day and a half, released at noon the second day. Then 2 years ago I was called for Superior Court, which is also in a very bad area, and you have to drive through about 6 miles of bad area to get there. I called in the night before and was told to report. Then the next morning just as I was leaving the house, I got a call releasing me from duty. So I got a day off out of that one!
I've been called to jury duty a few times but have not been placed on a jury (they had enough people), and the 2 times I have been selected for a trial, I was dismissed in the questioning phase (by the Defense lawyer - both criminal cases).
Here in my county in Calif, when you get notice to do jury duty you can opt to postpone it for up to 6 months without reason. Then, when they give you notice again, you can [postpone it for another 6 months without giving a reason. So I do that every time and usually only have to do jury duty every 2 years instead of annually. I'm surprised some of you here (like mschrisgo 2) had to actually service as here in Calif, besides the postponement, there are numerous reasons you are allowed to not have to do jury duty - breast feeding a child is one of many.
I once served on grand jury duty, which I loved!! I had to go once a week for about five months and it was very interesting and sort of like a part time job. We had to hear all the evidence and decide if a case goes to trial (only about 10% ever actually make it there). I ended up being a second alternate foreperson so a few times when the foreperson was out, I took the first alternate's job of taking the files from the previous week's cases to a courtroom. A policeman would escort me in, they'd stop the trial, swear me in, and hand the judge my files.
We learned so much about drugs and car accident investigations and how stupid some people are; they should be convicted just for their stupidity. Also had a child molestation case where we had to watch video of a little girl being interviewed and using an anatomically correct doll to describe what happened to her. Another one was an Indian woman who was constantly being abused by her husband; he would tie her to the bed, beat her with a cricket bat, then untie her so she could cook his meals. We were all in tears. Our first case had a man who was in a fight, and a broken beer bottle was used to slice off his ear. The guy who sliced it off then chewed it and mangled it so badly they couldn't reattach it. A few weeks later he had to come in and show us his head. He just had a hole for his ear now.
In my county, you serve on a day of the week when your hometown is not covered in the days' cases. The towns I heard about were pretty rough but there was probably a lot going on in my own town that I wouldn't want to know about.
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