Is jury duty really a random selection?

Question

I have been called up for jury duty 5 times now in my life.

Each time I have been called up I have been a student. It seems like in the months after I have gone from full time work to part time work (full time student) I get the notice for jury duty.

I know it's meant to be a totally random selecting process from the electrol role. It just seems like the people I talk to at jury duty are all either unemployed, students or people with part time employment.

Answer 1

It seems like it is but both sides get to pick and choose who they think will be on their side.

If it were random...then they wouldn't spend so much time questioning them.

I have called more than a dozen times..after the 5th time I just ignore them...it's a waste of time sitting there 1/2 the day and being let go.

Answer 2

i think once you get called up once they pretty much pester you until you do it, but the initial call-up is random.

i've been called up twice in 3 or 4 years, but my mum never got called up until she was like 60ish, noone else in my family has been called up

btw i'm in australia.

Answer 3

yes it is randomly picked

Answer 4

I don't know what country you're in, but I'm in Australia and this is what I've heard. They can call you up, but you can say that you can't do it, eg "I'm a schoolteacher so I need to be at the school and cannot do jury duty". That may explain why the others always seem to be unemployed or whatever. But it doesn't explain why you've been called so many times. Perhaps they use some system of being random that isn't evenly random?