Why is there so much whining about Jury Duty?

Question

At the most, this civic responsibility comes around every two years, and yet it seems the most asked question in the Political section is how to get out of doing your duty!!

Be glad you live in a country that demands a jury of your peers if you have to go to trial!

Answer 1

I think it is the idea of not being paid for the time spent sitting on a jury if you are chosen for one.  Some trials can really drag on and since employers are not required to compensate for the lost time it can really cut into the income of someone who doesn't make much money.  If jurors were paid appropriately for their time and importance to the trial then people wouldn't be so anxious not to serve.  

The state is paying for the judge, prosecutor and sometimes defense attorney, so what makes jurors less important?  They should be paid a flat wage per hour regardless of the individual income of the juror.  What would be considered a fair wage?  I would think the average per hour wage for the employed in the state the trial is being held.

Answer 2

It usually cuts into your routine and for some people who work it doesn't pay enough so many really can't afford to go.

So that leaves seniors and non-workers to do it.

Answer 3

Because people have been taught that they have no civic obligations.  They have the right to a jury trial - but they cannot mentally connect this right to the duty to serve on a jury themselves.

Answer 4

...because Jury Duty is annoying.

It breaks us your schedule, disrupts things at work, and you usually end up having to put so little thought into it (a lot of things are really simple, just technicality) that it seems like a big waste of time.

Of course it's a wonderful thing that a trial demands a jury. No matter how great of a thing it is, it's still irritating and not much fun, so people are going to naturally complain about it.

Answer 5

I actually want to do jury duty.  I'm patriotic and believe it is necessary for all.  I really do believe that.  But realistically, financial reasons are going to convince most people to do it happily. They should just increase the payout from a measly $20 or $10 a day or whatever the heck it is.  $10k, $20k is not chump change, but it is to the government.    Of course not every juror needs to get that much.  I would vary it by whether it is a Grand Jury or not; a federal, state, or local case; and also by assets.  

Assets are what you have now; most people who are rich have Lots and lots of assets, thus why pay them much to do jury duty?  Poor people tend to have very low assets thus they should be compensated heavily for their civic service so they can improve their lot.    

I wouldn't do income, that wouldn't be fair and I will explain why here.  Rich people who are rich from salary (doctors, dentists, etc) would say "Well jury duty should pay me X amount of dollars so i can have the same income i've had" for those rare trials that last for weeks or months. Frankly for very high earners that is ridiculous and in any event these people are most likely to want to shirk their duty anyway why should they be paid comparable?  Poor people who have small incomes or who are on welfare/gov programs on the other hand will see jury duty as mandatory and the compensation yet another stipend.  if income was comparable poor people would be laughing and saying "are you kidding me if i made more money i would be outraged!"  or  "why bother its only X amount of dollars turn on the boob tube!"   finally there are those with shifty incomes say a person used to have a poor paying job suddenly got a high-paying one.  because this person should have low assets he should get high compensation but he won't because of the new high income.  

So basically deciding it on income is absurd; assets are a more fair way to decide and for both assets and income it should be obverse where poorer people get more compensation

I would also be in favor of a lottery system so random people who go to the courthouse and/or the people who actually end up sitting on a trial a random juror/jurors get a payout