What made me happy today?

[CatrionaGrace]

That's all very well, but I think some people are skeptical about the jury process because...

Two little words: civic duty.

My favorite badass federal judge was a retired Marine who served a couple of tours in Viet Nam. He was not impressed by any version of "I have more important things to do than sit on a jury." He was, however, very good about granting temporary leave to folks requesting specific periods of time off for things like marrying, burying, and taking that long-paid-for vacation to Ulan Bator.

a jury of your peers." Does that mean that if (say) a member of the English nobility is on trial, he can insist that the jury be composed entirely of noblemen?

Two more little words that might help you grok the origin and meaning of jury by peers: Magna Carta.

There's also the fact that the jury can be swayed by several factors...* Is there a way to prevent or limit that?

That is what voir dire is for and why it can take so long to seat a jury. You'd probably be surprised by the amount of time spent researching potential jurors before the pool even gets called into the courtroom.

I'm talking about US law, of course. I haven't a clue what y'all get up to down under, though I assume the system is based on English common law.

 

[Kiraann]

One time I was called for jury duty, the voir dire completely amused me. The accused was found drunk in a street using the curb as a pillow. Both sides concentrated questions on whether jurors could be fair since the defendant was gay. I could see that as a real concern in Amarillo.

But after the attorneys were all talked out, the judge asked if we could fairly assess punishment across the full penalty range. Now, this was district court, with a judge, bailiffs, clerks, appointed defense attorney and assistants, prosecutor and assistants, cops as witnesses and such. The max penalty was $100 !!

I asked why this wasn’t in municipal court as a misdemeanor. I wasn’t picked.

 

[Amontillado]

Two little words: civic duty.

There's also the matter of perjury if you bend the truth to get out of jury duty.

Prosecution is unlikely, of course, although that shouldn't have any bearing on the question.

 

[Luxuria]

I am going to make an iced caramel latte at home today!

 

[Dogberry's Watch]

Making some Creole lentils for meal prep and my whole house smells amazing.

 

[DLC]

It occurred to me I've never seen the actual inside of a courthouse. Wasn't for Tv wouldn't be able to harzard a guess what's there. Maybe if crops harvested themselves and sheep and cattle moved themselves about I could have. Primary producers are indeed exempt but this requires and 40 minute drive each way to fill out a form in front of them so it's easier and cheaper to write on the back I Sick since we arrive at the same conclusion.

 

[TrevorD]

I retired from Anesthesia today. Just finished my last shift. Now TO FINISH THAT BOOK!

 

[Naomasa298]

I retired from Anesthesia today.

That just sends me to sleep.

 

[CatrionaGrace]

It occurred to me I've never seen the actual inside of a courthouse. Wasn't for Tv wouldn't be able to harzard a guess what's there. Maybe if crops harvested themselves and sheep and cattle moved themselves about I could have. Primary producers are indeed exempt but this requires and 40 minute drive each way to fill out a form in front of them so it's easier and cheaper to write on the back I Sick since we arrive at the same conclusion.

I'm the wrong person to sing this song to. This is ranch country. It's hard to pull a jury in this area without seating a rancher or three. My son and family are gen-yoo-ine ranch people. Both sets of my grandparents raised cattle. As a young woman, I grew cotton, alfalfa, and smalls grains for years before going to work as a range con. Agriculture is demanding. I get it.

Well, peace be on you, and with luck, the course of your life will never rest on the decision of twelve people who suited up and showed up in court despite thinking they had better places to be.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Two little words: civic duty.

My favorite badass federal judge was a retired Marine who served a couple of tours in Viet Nam. He was not impressed by any version of "I have more important things to do than sit on a jury." He was, however, very good about granting temporary leave to folks requesting specific periods of time off for things like marrying, burying, and taking that long-paid-for vacation to Ulan Bator.



Two more little words that might help you grok the origin and meaning of jury by peers: Magna Carta.



That is what voir dire is for and why it can take so long to seat a jury. You'd probably be surprised by the amount of time spent researching potential jurors before the pool even gets called into the courtroom.

I'm talking about US law, of course. I haven't a clue what y'all get up to down under, though I assume the system is based on English common law.

All very fair points, and I agree with you. I'm not questioning the law, and I agree that assisting the legal process is an important and worthy pursuit. I was simply playing Devil's advocate, and imagining reasons why someone might not wish to serve.

As an aside, I've always tried to obey the law, and have never seen the inside of a court-room or been called up for jury duty. I also hope I never shall.

But last year, I received a letter from a lawyer who offered me the chance to join a class action against a major insurer, because they were suspected of shady dealings. (The only reason he sent me that letter, I imagine, was because a former employer signed me up for their insurance, about 15-16 years ago). On the other hand, I closed my account with that insurer and transferred the funds to another one a few years back.

So I never replied to the lawyer. But I reckon that even if I had, I probably wouldn't have gotten much. Was I right? I'm curious.

 

[defaux]

I have been invited a couple of times to join class actions. One was against Facebook and was for iirc $10. The other I can't even recall who it was against and was maybe $8. Not sure if that's before or after the lawyers cut. I'm not a fan of how litigious society has become.

 

[Tallyfire]

I’ve found a writer whose methods speak to me. Reading his book on writing is like a long, hot bubble bath with champgne for the brain.

 

[Iain Aschendale]

I have been invited a couple of times to join class actions. One was against Facebook and was for iirc $10. The other I can't even recall who it was against and was maybe $8. Not sure if that's before or after the lawyers cut. I'm not a fan of how litigious society has become.

i was invited to join a class action against a shoe company once. I assumed it was on the same level as my win in the Irish Sweepstakes, all of which I was going to forward to that Nigerian prince.

Turns out it was a real suit and the plaintiffs won. Don't think I would have gotten much, but I was just flabbergasted that there was something on the internet that wasn't a scam.

 

[Set2Stun]

I always join consumer class actions. Usually takes like 2 minutes to register for them, and here in the great white north, they're mentioned on our communist public news corporation's website, so the links are always legit.

I think the bread price-fixing suit got me the most - a $25 gift card, but further awards are still in the works. Then there was a chocolate price-fixing one, a disc-reading laser thing, and an energy drink suit. Now that I'm remembering this stuff, I think one of them might've paid out ~$50, though I don't recall which.

If it was all done via the post like back in the day, I wouldn't bother. But online? Yes please, I will take the free money, even if it's just a few bucks.

 

[Rath Darkblade]

...I was just flabbergasted that there was something on the internet that wasn't a scam.

You mean something like that exists? *faints*

Sorry to be so cynical, but over the past few years (especially during the lockdown), it seems that the number of scams increased exponentially. Among many others, I received:

- a phone call from customs in Beijing airport, saying they were holding onto my package until I paid customs dues (my reaction: bye! *slam*)
- a phone call from a person pretending to be a telecommunications technician, but refused to say which company (bye! *slam*)
- an email from a cafe in the Bronx, asking me to order food (I'm nowhere near the USA, let alone the Bronx)
- not one but two emails from a random gmail address, telling me they're from the IRS and accusing me of tax fraud (bye! *delete*)
- a text message telling me to buy more estrogen pills (I'm a man, you idiot! *delete*)
- a text message telling me I won first place in a UK lottery that I can't even enter legally ... *delete*
- a text message urging me to join a football club I'd never even heard of and couldn't be arsed joining even if I cared about football
- ... and many, many more - some from L.A., one from Slovakia, and one from (of all places) Russia, accusing me of nuclear espionage ... and sent to my work address. How the heck it even got through IT security, I don't know.

I thought it might be fun to play along with scam calls, but I have work to do. *sigh* Maybe the next time I get a call from so-called "Microsoft support", I might reply sarcastically "And I'm Princess Anne. Byeee!" *slam*

I even thought of going further and pretending to be a policeman, to really give those idiots a good scare ... but pretending to be a public servant is a crime in itself, isn't it?

 

[Amontillado]

I used to change the reply-to field in scam email to webmaster@fbi.gov. Yes, I'm very interested, by all means tell me more! Just hit reply... Do it.... You know you've got a willing victim here...

 

[Naomasa298]

I filter most of these into a specific folder, called "Bin".

 

[CatrionaGrace]

The son of one of my husband's friends strung a spammer along for a week. Spammer called pretending to be a stranded relative. The son pretended to be compliant, claiming it took time to arrange funds. Last call, he told the spammer the money was in a special account tacccessible with a password. Spammer asked the password. Son told him it was the name of his favorite hunting dog. Check and mate.

 

[Selluwud]

I usually reply with this attachment, which is actually harmless.

It is against the law to knowingly imbed a malicious file into someone's computer but do you think they would turn you in??

 

[Rath Darkblade]

Sigh. I thought of answering a scam with: "Thank you for contacting the fraud squad. We will evaluate your message and endeavour to reply within 3 working days" or similar. (Note I didn't say which fraud squad, etc.)

But that would probably just get me in trouble, so maybe it's better not to engage scammers at all. *shrug*

Thing is, I have done the "officially correct" thing in the past, i.e. not engaged them and reported them to the authorities ... but nothing ever came out of it (at least, nothing that I know of). So ... *shrug*