The Questions regarding Jury Duty?

Question

Has anyone ever be summoned to jury duty?Do you know how long you have to wait and how they decide if they want to pick you?

Answer 1

I am sure this varies with the individual.

I got a jury questionnairre in the mail, which I filled in to best of my ability, and best answers I could in the microscopic space alloted for each answer.  I mailed it in.  2 months later I get a summons to show up for jury duty on a particular Monday in what, to me (I work nites) was the wee hours.  I drove to the place earlier, to make sure I knew the right address, the place to park, estimate driving time etc.

There was a phone # to call for a recorded message the night before show up, to verify it still on ... I called the #, and found that the court had been canceled.

2 weeks later history repeated ... it also got cancelled.

3 weeks later another ... that was not canceled.

I show up & they have something like 50 people sitting in the court room.  We watch a movie about Jury Duty, get lectured a few times, then 12 at a time get called to the jury box for both sides to ask us questions.

I guess I answered some questions not how they liked, because they did not pick me for the duty.

I had walked into the court building at 7.20 am.

I walked out at about noon.

When I did so, they had selected about 5 people out of the 12 they needed, having gone thru 3 sets of 12.

Answer 2

oh i got summoned this summer and i got picked too! lol it took one whole day to pick and decide if your in the jury..they first summon a bunch of people to jury duty..couple hundred or so. Once you go to court, they take you into a courtroom, and ask you some questions involving the case to eliminate some jurors who will be wasting their time..for example, they ask if anyone has heard, read or knows anything or anyone involved in the case..and ask if anyone has any reasons why they cant serve. at this point people who maybe cant hear, or cant speak english go to the front of the court and explain what their reason is and the judge either dismisses them or keeps them. Then they randomly draw numbers and form groups. then the rest of the jurors who dont get picked stay and watch in case they need them after. So each person in the group comes out, answers one question..mine was "will the fact that the juror is latino have an effect on your decision?" then you answer and the jururs who have already been picked deicde if you would be a good jurur and if you say yes, then both the crown and defence have to agree to accept you into the panel or else if one doesnt agree then your're not part of it. anyways it continues on and if the panel is still not made by the time the first group comes, then they make another group and it continues on from there until all twelve are chosen.

Answer 3

How you serve jury duty varies by venue.  In some places youu have to be available for one day only.  Other courts, you call in to check.  I recommend contacting the jury commissioner.

Answer 4

yes, i have been selected but got out of it

Answer 5

yes I had to go this year.  I went for 10 days, sat doing nothing for most of the time, was picked for two cases which  filled some time for three of the days.  They pick about fifteen jurors to go down to a court and then they pick names on folded bits of paper at random.  If your name is called you are on the jury for that case. Its really just lots of sitting and waiting, if you have to go take a good book or six. Good luck.

Answer 6

Hopefully you will jump at the chance to serve as a juror--it is your most powerful position as an American citizen. Your job is to judge the facts AND the law. No matter how the judge may instruct you, his/her instructions hold no more weight than any of the other evidence presented to you.

You, as a juror, can determine the context in which a law broken, whether the law was applied unfairly, whether the punishment is appropriate. A juror when performing their duty uses their conscience, and is NOT required to simply determine whether or not the defendant broke the law as it is written.

Were it not for juries voting their conscience, slavery and lynching would be legal in U.S. society.

Answer 7

I have served several times. You arrive early in the morning and the jury selection process can take anywhere from half a day to a whole (work) day.  

For municipal jury duty, you generally sit in a big room with a bunch of other bored people (bring a book or something to occupy your time with). A person (bailiff?) comes and calls out lists of names... usually about 40 at a time. If you are called as one of the 40, you will go to one of the nearby courts and be grilled with questions from the prosecuting and defense attorneys.  They will ask you about your knowledge of your state's law, what your feelings are about different things concerning the case they are working on...  during that time, they will take notes on answers...  Eventually, they will narrow their list down to the 12 who will serve for the jury.

If you are one of the 12 selected, you stay and receive instructions about when and where you will appear as a juror.

If you are not selected, then you return to tehe main room and occupy until your name is called again.

For a federal jury duty, you may NOT just "occupy" your time.  Everyone on jury duty (hundred or more) sits in the federal courtroom with the accused there in front.  You are assigned a number and the prosecuting and defending attorneys ask a bunch of questions, such as, "Do you have a problem with the death penalty?"  Then, if you do have a problem with it, you raise your hand and give them your number.  Using your responses, they then proceed to select a jury.  Federal jury duty is usually an all day event... and it is much, much more interesting.