How do you feel about Jury Duty? [Homework Interview] Help Needed!?

Question

My Assignment:

The Judicial Assistant has requested that you spend some time investigating how Americans feel about jury duty. You will be conducting an interview with an adult who has reported for jury duty. You may choose to interview a parent, guardian, other family member, family friend, teacher, neighbor or an adult that you work with.

The Jury Duty Interview Questions:

Name of the person you are interviewing, and your relationship with this person:

Was this person part of the voir dire, or screening process?

Was he or she dismissed or chosen to serve on the jury?

If dismissed, does this person know why?

If he or she was chosen, did the case go to trial?

If so, how long did he or she sit on the jury?

What type of court was it - county court or state court?

Was it a Grand Jury or Petit Jury?

Was it a criminal or civil trial?

What did this person learn about the court process?

Did this person feel he or she was fulfilling an important civic duty by serving?

Answer 1

I think they want you to do this in person. I am not giving you my name.

I don't know what voir dire means. There was a screening. And later I was called, I think.

I served on a Jury years ago, I hated it. It was a criminal case. City court. It was one day. All day till late. We were almost a hung jury. I thought the man was guilty. Others thought so too but since he was a young college student they didn't want to find him guilty because he would have a criminal record and that would look bad. Well too bad for him! Maybe he should have thought about that before he beat the h**l out of someone.

So I was voting guilty and all the rest not guilty. Then we went at it again. People gave their reasons for their vote and tried to convince me to change my mind. I convinced someone else to change his. Then there were 2 of us against the rest. It was h**l. And everyone wanted to go home. And they all looked at me as the person preventing them from going home. I hate to admit it but I caved in, I think.. it was long ago. Maybe we came back as a hung jury. Maybe I blocked it all out of my mind by now.. I think I just said to h**l with it and went along with the rest. I have never served on another jury. I do everything to get out of it. Not worth the h**l. I feel as if I let a guilty man go free. The presure was horrible. To h**l with civic duty. I had my time in h**l.. now it is someone elses turn.

Answer 2

I see jury duty as a duty, and don't mind it.  I have been on several juries.  I went through voir dire, was accepted, once on county court, once on state. Both criminal trials.  One went to trial, and we convicted the guy after a week.  The other ended when the guy took a plea deal just as the trial was starting.  I learned a lot about the system.  They were petit juries.  I also sat on a grand jury in which enough evidence was given to move on, but a plea deal stopped that.

Answer 3

Jury duty is a gamble.  You have a zealous prosecutor who wants a conviction no matter what the cost.  On the other hand you have a defense attorney who is slick as Teflon and

often gets a guilty person off the hook.

Myself, if I was not at the "crime scene" I don't know what happened so based on two sides lying I cannot find the accused guilty.  Think about it!

Answer 4

This is what I posted in another Question about jury duty:

I am aware of the circus that the legal system is in the courtroom, and that there is no law against an attorney lying or misrepresenting the truth and judges who can make any unfair and prejudiced judgement to either convict or to represent a defendent. I protest my lack of a right to not be a citizen free from coercion because I am even obligated to attend this jury selection process which causes me time and costs me money, which is of itself a very tyrannical process that penalizes me with a paltry and insignificant financial imbursement even if I do participate in the jury. In addition, I have in the past been victimized by bogus legal decisions in a courtroom. With my ire, it is not a good idea to put me on any jury because I detest this tyrannical and fraudulent legal system.

I don't think anybody would put you in the jury box with that statement. I haven't so far!

UNTIL THEY MAKE IT A FELONY FOR A LAWYER TO LIE OR DELIBERATELY MAKE A MISREPRESENTATION IN A COURT OF LAW, AND MAKE IT A FELONY FOR A JUDGE TO MAKE A PREJUDICIAL RULING THAT IS ABSENT JUSTICE, I will refuse to serve on any jury! That is my RIGHT!

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Answer 5

knowing that if you were ever on trial for such a crime, you would DESPARATELY want a FAIR JURY OF YOUR PEERS to come up with a FAIR AND JUST DECISION, you should welcome a call to jury duty to judge others as you would want to be judged.