Why Do People Hate Jury Duty? (salary, attorney, cost, financial)

[Scooby Snacks]

I'm not sure where to put this, so mods please move if this isn't the right place. I got my jury summons two weeks ago and am scheduled to serve tomorrow at my local criminal court. When I told my friends, they gave me all sorts of suggestions on excuses I could invent to get out of it. Why? Why do people hate jury duty so much? I'm looking forward to it. My last service ended in a plea bargain, so I ended up not doing anything but sitting and waiting three hours. I am going tomorrow and will not try to avoid it through my attitudes or excuses. I can understand needing to avoid it for financial reasons, but other than that, people seem to hate it for reasons they can't identify. Is hating jury duty the American way, like hating paying taxes?

[biggunsmallbrains]

I enjoyed it. Although I just sat in a room for a few hours and got a check for about 12 bucks. Still, it’s a small but important responsibility for all Americans.

[nurider2002]

Seriously? My experience has usually sitting in a hot crowded room all day, listening to others complain about having to be there, and ultimately not getting chosen for a jury. And, when I have been chosen, it’s hours of tedious minute details that have little bearing on the evidence. I would rather have a root canal then jury duty. Long, boring, and tedious.

[rbohm]

i also dont know why people hate jury duty. i always found it to be rather fun, though the chairs in the jury box are not comfortable for me.



i grant that one wont get rich serving on a jury, but there are other rewards, like peering into the minds of lawyers, learning things by listening to the experts brought into the case, etc.

[No_Recess]

I don't get involved with the affairs of the State and its kangaroo courts.

[Suburban_Guy]

Luckily the only time I was called for one I was dismissed.

I can't imagine sitting in a courtroom getting a boring case, nothing at all like the drama you see in courtroom dramas on TV and the movies.

[shorman]

You get paid next to nothing, if any employer tried to pay people $10 a day, they would be in jail and out of business.

Forced to pay for parking and lunch, which means I am actually paying out of pocket to work as a slave for the government.

The courts are completely disrespectful of you and your time. They treat you like a prisoner and make you work around their schedule. Judge gets too busy, you will just have to come back tomorrow. Attorney needs extra time to prep, well the jury has nothing going on we will just leave early today. The whole system is setup to abuse the jurors.

[Taiko]

Because most counties and the federal government token pay puts a heavy financial burden upon the conscripted juror. The forced isolation from family and friends since the courts accepted the law industry concept that only what they clear should be allowed to the jury

[somebodyfromnc]

Who wouldn't enjoy being sequestered in a hot, stinky room with a bunch of other people who also don't want to be there?

That's my idea of a good time!

[charolastra00]

Not every employer pays salary when an employee is on jury duty, so it can be a huge financial hit for many people. You are not compensated for parking or transit, and burden of transit is not always considered a valid excuse to delay jury duty. For instance, in the past year I've had two coworker who had to travel upwards of 2 hours each way to get to their assigned jury dury either because they had to rely on a mix of public transit and taxis to get there (at a cost of more than $40 a day) or because of traffic getting across a large, densely populated county.

There's also the work element. Another coworker was on a grand jury that went on for 6 weeks 2 years ago. The amount of work left for him when he got back was staggering, and he lost vacation time trying to catch up. It was awful.

I believe jury duty is valuable and an honor, but service comes at a steep price for many.