How often are you called for jury duty? (Los Angeles: homes, college) - City-Data Forum

West of Encino · 10-26-2009, 04:13 PM

I just got mail for me to attend jury duty for LA Court. How annoying can they get and why do they pick random people in Los Angeles County?

Has anyone ever been called for jury duty?

CA4Now · 10-26-2009, 04:46 PM

See following thread:
Jury Duty... am I the only one that has it every year?

ocngrl · 09-02-2010, 04:12 PM

I dont know about LA but I have been called for jury duty 3 times since I moved to FL 9 years ago. I am in the medical field and I swear I am being profiled. I know people who have lived here for 30 years and never been called once. Do you work? I do-and I am per diem so I dont get paid at all for jury duty, and I am responsible for about 15 patients as i see them in their homes-I am not making doctors pay either!!! Also, my son and fiance are in Kuwait and Afghanistan respectively - do they think I don't do enough for my country??? This system is outrageous-go pick on the welfare moms who sit home on their arses all day-maybe they will learn something besides who's who on soap operas.

CALGUY · 09-02-2010, 05:14 PM

I have always thought the current jury system is remarkably stupid at best.
I have always said it should be handled just like any other business.
By that I mean, there should be a "pool" of professional jurors.
They would have to go through a training course set up by , and financed by the state.
Once the course is completed, the official juror certificate would be issued, making the juror a professional at sitting in on all kinds of cases requiring a jury.
No longer would john q. public be required to do jury duty.
No more time consuming jury selection in cases.
In any litigation that would require a jury, the judge, and jury would be seated on day one of the trial.
Jury duty would be a full time job, paid for by the state judicial system.
Jurors would have competitive wages in line with what state employees are currently being paid..
Just like any other state employee, they would be responsible for performing to the best of their ability.
With the current state of the economy and state finances in general, this won't be happening soon, but I still feel it is the best solution.
Bob.

Ceece · 09-02-2010, 05:54 PM

Every. Fracking. Year.

They pull from the DMV and voter registration and if there is ANY discrepancy you can be called more than once. My daughter once had 3 active calls to jury at the same time, one from DMV (which was from a postponed summons a year before), one from voter registration (missing her middle initial), and one from her college town when she recently changed her addresses on her drivers licence.

A phone call was all it took for them to see their mistake and clear her of all 3.

I agree with the idea of professional jurors. The current system has degraded so much that something needs to change.

Twinkle Toes · 09-02-2010, 06:57 PM

Every year. If you are registered to vote, you are going to be mailed a jury summons.

West of Encino · 09-02-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ceece

Every. Fracking. Year.

They pull from the DMV and voter registration and if there is ANY discrepancy you can be called more than once. My daughter once had 3 active calls to jury at the same time, one from DMV (which was from a postponed summons a year before), one from voter registration (missing her middle initial), and one from her college town when she recently changed her addresses on her drivers licence.

A phone call was all it took for them to see their mistake and clear her of all 3.

I agree with the idea of professional jurors. The current system has degraded so much that something needs to change.

Only in California.

Mr. Mysterious · 09-02-2010, 11:13 PM

How come they never called me? Its been a while...

Arus · 09-03-2010, 01:12 AM

There should never be "professional jurors" - that is the whole point of the jury system. So that you dont get these "people" who only serve as a juror (bias, political beliefs, religious beliefs).

The point of a jury is that you get a cross section of the public. So you dont get a stacked jury selection that would weigh one way or another on an issue.

What happens if the "professional" jurors are all people who knew a woman who was raped and the upcoming case is about a rapist?

Anyway,

You can be called every year, or not at all.

Ceece · 09-03-2010, 01:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arus

There should never be "professional jurors" - that is the whole point of the jury system. So that you dont get these "people" who only serve as a juror (bias, political beliefs, religious beliefs).

The point of a jury is that you get a cross section of the public. So you dont get a stacked jury selection that would weigh one way or another on an issue.

What happens if the "professional" jurors are all people who knew a woman who was raped and the upcoming case is about a rapist?

Anyway,

You can be called every year, or not at all.

I imagine the "professional jury" pool would be large enough to prevent conflicts of interest just as the jury selection is done now. In my mind it's just a group of diverse people who WANT to be juriors, not that they are specialized or anything. Let's face it, people who don't want to be there will A) fail to respond to the summons B) find an excuse C) do whatever they can to NOT be chosen or D) be bad juriors. All it would really mean is that the people who should never be on a jury anyway won't have to go through the motions.

I used every excuse I could when I was younger and raising my kids, I never did go in and at least once I just sort of "forgot" about the summons. Now that I'm older and not even working I have time and interest in being on a jury.