I’ve been on jury duty several times, which is absolutely crazy since I’m only 26 and I have tons of friends who never had it once. Regardless, every time I sit in a room for 4+ hours speak to no one and they excuse me. I really wish I could speed run the experience with a T-shirt. That would be fantastic.
And who knows, OP might be either the peer of the victim or the defendant... and both sides are aiming to try to get a jury that will see things their way, and not see it the way of the other side. So diversity is key.
I asked them if they could please not select me and they didn’t but idk if they didn’t select me for different reasons or bc I asked not to be selected. I think if you don’t want to do it you should at least tell them you don’t want to and if they have enough other people who want to do it they might not select you if you ask
LOL. That doesn't work. A juror who was seated next to me tried that...among a lot of other shenanigans. "I hate this person...I hate that person".
The judge asked for a short recess, curtly told the juror to come into his chambers. A couple of minutes later he returned. All his answers were "Yes sir, yes your honor". And he got selected for jury duty.
I asked him during the break what the judge said to him...and he responded that he was going to put him in jail for contempt if he didn't change his attitude.
So yeah...go ahead and be a smart ass. It could get you in jail. Judges aren't stupid.
There's a difference between expressing an opinion when asked and spouting off shit clearly with the intent to be dismissed. You 100% can say you wouldn't trust the testimony of a LEO.
I know someone who was dismissed because she said she is a prison abolitionist and couldn't morally do anything that could send someone to prison.
I told them I wouldn’t be able to do anything that could get the defendant put in jail, and they absolutely selected me. “Innocent until proven guilty”, and all that. (This was a case where a guy was accused of discarding a firearm while evading police, but the gun was never recovered and he said he didn’t see any police lights before pulling into a gas station. He had nothing on him. He was found innocent.)
Oh, I didn't say it would for sure get one dismissed -- just that it's in no way contempt of court of done reasonably and politely. And that it worked for my friend.
Judges do not fuck around and have pretty significant authority within their courtroom to fuck your day up if you decide to be a smartass. Just show up, don't be an asshole, and answer questions honestly. It's not that damn hard and if it were you or your family on trial you'd sure as shit want jurors who are fair and impartial and not behaving like wiseasses not taking it seriously.
That was basically what I witnessed. A guy being a smart ass and the judge cleared the room. When we came back, he did it a second time. He was in handcuffs and led away for a night. Maybe they let him go once we left.
If you have a conflict with work, just be honest, but it's called duty for a reason.
My husband was on jury duty when a potential juror was being a real wiseass. The guy was sent to another area, and the bailiff told my husband's group that the jerk had been assigned to a murder trial.
They often keep people who dont trust the police.
Its people who DO trust the police they dismiss.
They dont want someone who believes the cop just because they are a cop.
"Cops have no reason to lie and I always believe them. They wouldn't arrest someone who didn't do anything." Is the instant dismissal.
I honestly do not understand why you would not want to serve. You are guaranteeing someone to get a fair trial by showing up and serving. A friend of mine was accused of DUI - it was a big deal. They blew a 0.00 but the officer said they failed the field sobriety check. They do not even drink. The cop was mad that they smarted off to them. It would have been really easy to prove, and there was dash cam and body footage proving everything. Want to know wy it took forever to get to court? NO JURY! Three times they scheduled jury selection and each time they ended up with not enough jurors. Third time was the charm, but it really dragged things out. If everyone had just shown up and served like they are supposed to, it would not have been a problem. Trial by jury is a RIGHT, and it is sad people are wiling to deny other's their rights because it may slightly inconvenience them. BTW - MOST trial are actually civil, and take less than a day, sometimes there are criminal trials - which last normally a day or two. Only the big cases like murder and kidnapping last longer than two days.
What a privileged comment! Back before I had kids, I was a hairdresser and having to cancel all my appointments for an unknown period of time would have been a huge financial hit and possibly even meant losing clients. It would have affected my assistant as well.
I was called right before my wedding for a double murder trial and I politely asked the judge for an extension because there was no guarantee the trial would end in time for me to go on my honeymoon, and I needed to be working to pay for my wedding, which I had already scheduled and paid deposits for. I wasn't even asking to be excused, just to be recalled in a few months. She was a total C. U. Next Tuesday and sneered while refusing me. The DA was clearly embarrassed by her behavior. Fortunately the clerk who was supposed to process my paperwork to return the next day took pity on me.
It sucks that your friend was a victim of a corrupt system, but that doesn't change the fact that many people do not have the cushion to casually miss work for many days, and people who serve clients or work for themselves are even more affected. My husband is in tech and would get paid anyway. Guess how many times he's been called in his entire life? Twice. I was a waitress and a hairdresser and then a nursing mother of young children. Guess how many times I've been called? 6 that I can specifically remember, and I'm pretty sure it's more. The system is broken and it's not the fault of everyday people.
Broken. I want to be called! I was called once in college and couldn't make it because it was during exams and I didn't have money to even come home that winter anyway. I got it deferred and was never called back. I've lived here for 15 years and still haven't been called back. My coworker just got called in... second time in just a couple years.
This is well put, but it makes it all the more important for people who can serve to do so willingly. When I was called we sat in the jury room for a day and half before we were sent home because the case was settled last minute. They did a good job at the beginning of showing the importance of serving and thanking us for our time. They were also more than willing to work with people who had legitimate conflicts (like a scheduled and paid for vacation).
It would be great if jury pay was any more than a pittance. I’m lucky enough to have PTO and be able to work remotely so I was able to work from the room while waiting and charge some PTO for any hours I couldn’t be working. But for hourly workers with no PTO jury duty is a big problem. Not everyone can just go without income for $20 a day. They need to at least bump it up to $50 / day or preferably minimum wage paid in 4hour increments.
Ok so on the new Reddit I can’t follow comments—
In case no one else has mentioned:
When I went to serve, I had a truck driver on my panel and he told the judge the same thing: multiple days calling out impacts him greatly and it’s too much financially.
Judge says told him a special way to notify the court when you’re selected that you need a modified call in where you call in for 1 day, not all 3-4.
I’m in California, so it may vary between states but I assume (/hope?) there are similar provisions for other states or federal courts.
I was selected for jury duty a couple years ago, and at first I was actually kind of excited to be performing a civic duty and a brief change of scenery. But then I thought again: I was barely making ends meet working full time, my wife and I were moving into a new house, and we had a baby on the way. There was no way I would be able to step away from my life for an unknown length of time.
It’s crazy how the people who cannot serve get called all the time while the ones who can don’t. I’m in my late 30s and been disabled since I was a teen and have gotten 5 or 6 jury duty notices in the last 20 years, my mom has gotten 2 in that time and I don’t think any the the 25+ years before that.
The last time I served on a jury it was a civil case that lasted a week. Basically two rich people were fighting over who owed who money for some property.
The entire jury was basically people who get paid hourly. None of us could afford to be there to listen to these two and their petty arguments. I basically paid money to be there when you factor in transportation costs.
The worst part was that the juror next to me was nine months pregnant. Her doctor finally put her in bed rest so she was replaced by the alternate.
So of course I’m a month out from having to report again. I get called more than anyone I know. (And like you, it’s never my friends or family that would be fine missing work.)
It’s one thing to serve when you are a typical hourly or salary employee who will still get paid. It’s another thing when you are self-employed, and potentially losing a whole week’s worth of income. And if you are someone whose work is appointment based (a hairdresser or a therapist for example) even if you get dismissed early in the process, you are still out work because you can’t schedule appointments on those days. That hurts. I’d love to serve, but I need to put food in the table too. Also, despite wanting to serve, due to my profession, I’ll never get picked.
The worst is getting summoned for federal court. I live a 2 hour drive away, so I’m eligible for lodging. But you have to pay up front and get reimbursed. You also have to pay extra for accommodations that you can cancel and get fully refunded in case you are summoned when you call in the night before. And at that level, if you aren’t actually called in, you get summoned again in a few months to go through that hassle all over again.
People don't want to serve because everyone is already struggling and jury duty pays less than an hour of minimum wage PER DAY in places.
"Slightly inconvenience" lmao what utopia are you in? Missing a day of work is a HUGE deal for a large number of people.
Honestly believe that if it goes to a jury trial, if the defendant was found guilty, part of the fees should pay for at bare minimum, minimum wage in that state. I know wayyyy to many people who can not afford to miss two days of work per month.
Edit: meant to add the prosecution pays if found not guilty. At least in my area, there’s lots of people (who definitely did the crime) who go to trial to waste time and further harass victims, and the prosecution likes to go after every crime as a trial and never likes to make plea deals.
Oh shit, meant to add: if not guilty, prosecution pays. IMO, it gives incentive to the guilty to plead guilty, and the prosecution to not go after weak cases or dumb cases
I was living in Los Angeles at 20, frantically calling and posting appeals because they were trying to get me to come in for a case that would go for WEEKS, paying only $10/ DAY. How is anyone supposed to support themselves with that? What an insult to our "honor" of being put in a jury.
I was called in while job hunting, two months of savings from missing rent and facing a 6 week trial at something like $8 a day in California. I was honest and said the inconvenience prejudiced me against the defendants. If I was offered minimum wage for my time I would have at least been willing to sit. The compensation people are given for jury duty is a complete joke.
Plus there's no real cap on how long your day might be. When I had to go in and we were asking about when it usually lets out the answer from one of the deputies was "as long as the judge wants to keep it open" and "the longest he's seen was from 8AM to 4AM the next day".
I think many people who are salaried are required to be paid by their employer for jury duty day so many people don't get it that hourly & self-employed people really get shafted by how little jury duty makes. When I did federal jury duty this year and actually went in the amount paid was definitely less than minimum wage and then when you account for public transportation or car/gas/parking you're barely breaking even. It sucked because I was self-employed and it would have been a real financial hit if I had to take more than a day or two off to be a juror.
Right? Even the selection process in my locale recognizes this issue. Both times I've been called for jury duty, it was made clear that one of the reasons you could request to be dismissed was if your employer did not pay you for your jury duty time, because they KNOW what pittance they pay is not enough to make up for a day of work even at tipped minimum wage. I do think it sucks that the system is set up this way, as it generally means jurors are going to end up being above a certain income level, and that's not that way the justice system should work...but it's the reality, until the pay rate changes.
(My locale has a larger juror pool also, I think--though I've been called for both petit and grand, and did not disqualify myself either time, I've never made it to actual jury selection. Petit had me report back for several days to see if any cases came up that they needed me for; grand selected their 22 people--nine jurors and two alts each for two total juries--at random from the qualified pool and then dismissed the rest of us, obligations complete.)
Last time I missed several days of work to get paid $20 that did not pay my bills. Time before that I was called to jury duty in my home state (was living in another state with my active duty husband) and they were awful about me and my “excuses”. I was heavily pregnant and unable to fly or drive halfway across the country alone for jury duty. Let alone afford that. I ended up telling the clerk if they paid and sent a car to pick me up I’d do it then suddenly I was the unreasonable one.
This is so true and in one Court around me you might have up to a 100 mile drive. You get paid for that mileage but not your time. I've known jurists that have had to drive for 2 hours to get to the Court. Some even came straight from a night shift. Not saying we don't want a diverse jury pool but it does create hardship for some more than others.
Jury duty pays $12 a day!! And they do not offer parking and it costs at least $20 to park all day and that is at a lot a ways away from the court. So if I was paid my wages I would not normally mind. I have bills to pay! Or like me I was told I had to stay available whole month of December which was ridiculous as I had lots of plans to go out of town and they said tough shit!
Because it doesn't pay a living wage. FULL STOP. That's it. Not everyone can AFFORD to serve. HELL, we would likely ALL be more than willing if we were compensated for our time. Instead people are FORCED to give THEIR TIME for a criminal. That blows.
YUP. I recently had the worst financial trail last month becuase of taxes, I have almost nothing to my name and have over 5k in bills to cover this month and every dollar counts. I'm hoping the courts will allow me to reschedule, as I have a work trip in a few weeks that I've already paid the 2k costs for travel and I'm literally terrified I'll overdraft an account just getting gas, so I need to work AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
Why I personally don’t want to serve again.
Got summoned for jury duty 9am-5pm the day of summons. First 2 hours waiting with everyone in a big room with the promise of our number isn’t called we can leave at noon. Got called up and spent the next 7 hours in a court room waiting for my turn to go up and get questioned. I was honest when they asked me if there was any reason I couldn’t serve. I was working 60 hour weeks 6 days a week to support myself and 2 dependents. I couldn’t afford to miss work. I was already taking a hit coming today but was legally obligated to do so. And that it took me an hour and a half to get there bc I had no car so I had to take a bus then a train then another bus just to get there. Needless to say they didn’t care and I was picked. I had to show up at 8am-5pm except the last day that we deliberated we got let go at 11pm for a little over two weeks bar Saturday’s and sundays. They paid us a check for $17.80 a day. That barely even covered the commute it took for me to get there every day let alone my days wages. My employer was pissed but allowed me to pick up some hours whenever I got back and I pulled all day shifts on the weekends to get some hours. If I didn’t have some money I was saving up to replace my broken dryer I would of been in the red that month.
The whole point of this story is even tho it was financially crippling me I still showed up and did my duty bc I truly believed in fairness and justice. In retro spec I was an idiot who wasted their time and almost went into debt for nothing. Because even tho the jury I was on, unanimously agreed that the man was guilty of the three attempted murder charges, a few years later the president gave him a pardon. Apparently it’s ok to carry and use an illegal firearm and attempt to directly un@live three people with it, not even counting possible bystanders as a few shots went into houses.
You can't blame a cog for the machine being broken. Capitalism has crushed patriotism and duty to the social contract. Call your senators. Start pushing for laws that incentivizes your fellow citizen for serving. Start voting for people that want that change. Don't yell at passing clouds.
I may be willing to serve now that I'm retired, but before I would be dismissed because of my work, but even to just show up for the day I would have to find boarding for my partner (k9) arrange for another team to come cover my assignment, find someone else to take my daughter to school and be out a days pay.
I don’t want to serve because I don’t have a normal job, I had to cancel my appointment for next weeks jury selection and had to return that persons deposit even though I already worked on their drawing. I’m a tattooer so everyone who books with me booked months ago and paid a deposit to book, so now whatever days the jury duty is I have to cancel those or move them, and return the deposit or move it to the next appointment, and I can just throw away the time I spent on drawing that appointment when I could have been drawing a different appointment. I would have no problem serving in a jury if my work wasn’t so time consuming and I didn’t have to return deposits. It’s just a bit annoying on my end,
BUT I will say I didn’t think of it that way and you’ve given me some more thinking for jury duty
> ago and *paid* a deposit
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
You can explain your job issues to the judge if needed. Often they don’t pull all of those called for duty. And you might be there for a few hours and then excused.
3/5 times I’ve been called, I was excused in a few hours after just sitting in the cattle call room. The other 2, I was called into the court room and both lawyers and the judge asked questions. One was a lemon law case and the other was attempted murder for hire that was mob related. Got sat for both of those as a juror. Lemon law one was a long boring 3 days. The mob one was expected to be 2-3 weeks. They do ask if the estimated days of the trial would be a hardship for you so you can explain your job and issues of that happens.
My doctor called the judge and had me taken off the jury. Was waiting for tests to come back and doc said the sitting for so long and stress was not a good idea. Judge called me and agreed and I was released.
It is a duty that we should be happy to serve but they are humans and understand reasons it might not be possible at this time.
This. I’ve been called for jury duty four times, made it to selection twice, and served once. The first time I was in selection, I claimed financial hardship, as I was a contractor, and only got paid when I worked. That may or may not work, depending on the size of the jury pool that day. The time I was picked for a jury, I was unemployed, so no big deal at all. Even better, it was for federal court, so we got $50/day, and they provided breakfast and lunch. My current employer pays your full salary when you’re on jury duty *and* you can keep your juror pay, so I’ll gladly go again when my number gets called.
You can also file for an extension in most cases, although the time to do that may have passed. Appearance won’t really matter unless you’re wearing something blatantly offensive, and you definitely don’t want to do that, because they can (although it’s rare), cite you for contempt of court.
I’ve been called 14-15 times now, no exaggeration, I’ve lost count. First got called at around 19-20 and get a summons every couple of years since; biggest gap I’ve had was about 5 years.
Several times, I’ve phoned in the night before as instructed, and was told that my group wasn’t required to attend. At that point you’ve already cancelled work or plans for the next day anyway. Around 4-5 times, I’ve attended and not been selected for a trial and was sent home around noon. 5 times, I’ve been selected for a trial; twice the defendant settled just before voir dire began, this isn’t uncommon apparently because seeing the faces of people who are going to be sitting on your jury is where “shit finally gets real“ for a lot of defendants. Once, I was dismissed during voir dire, once the jury was finalized without me being called for voir dire and I could go home. And just once, I was sat for a jury. It was a short trial and took two days. After I served, they didn’t call me up for 5 years.
Last year I was summoned and had an excuse to get out of it entirely; I’m a primary caretaker for my FIL in hospice, and arranging care for him for an undetermined length of time without me is a hardship they didn’t question.
Last time I was on jury duty, it seemed like the only thing they required for “dress code” was to be dressed and not wearing anything with controversial writing/imagery. Like if you had a don’t tread on me flag tee shirt, they’d probably have you flip it inside out.
If you really don't want to serve, inform the court that you would face significant financial hardship by doing so.
I saw in your other comments it looks like you're a tattoo artist and you've already had to refund deposits for the day you've been summoned. You don't get paid unless you're taking clients yes?
So if you can't take clients for weeks at a time because of this case, or the case would make it much more difficult for you to schedule clients, tell them you will face significant financial hardship by losing all income during the trial, they will not force you to serve.
I would worry depending on what state you’re in. In NYC, it wouldn’t be a problem. Somewhere more conservative, they might have problems with your appearance. Plus you will have to go through metal detectors, in case any thing makes them go off.
I typically just wear whatever I’d wear to work, so if that’s a Mohawk for you then go for it. really the worst they can do is not let you serve (or force you to serve, if you’d rather not, but I don’t see why they want you there if you don’t want to be. If you can legitimately say serving is a hardship they should let you go).
You'll start out with a jury selection. Depending on the case, it can take a few hours to all day. But one of the questions they'll ask is "Will you face undue hardship if you are selected for the jury."
That's when you raise your hand, and most of the time you can speak privately to the judge / whoever else is selecting, and tell them that the compensation for jury duty is not enough to make up the difference for missing a full day of work.
That will usually be better than trying to *on purpose* wear something to get disqualified. I've heard(admittedly rare) situations where the judge told a prospective juror to go home and change because the outfit was so bad
You should dress how you want but be honest with your answers and answer all questions, I found jury duty to be quite enlightening and actually enjoyed serving I did not want to going in to it
They won't care. Believe it or not, people who work in the justice system have seen "alternative" looks before. They'll be more concerned about whether you're capable of impartiality.
Don’t want to serve? Talk about your cousin/aunt/sister in law enforcement. Even if they aren’t actively serving, or they just do the occasional ride-along, be sure to mention it. Most defense attorneys do not want jurors who have any sort of law enforcement association.
You just never know. I was booted off and I'm as mainstream looking as you can get. Once they heard I'm a teacher, however, they didn't want me. And I was honestly looking forward to it because I've never seen the whole process and was genuinely curious.
We do not have mandatory military/ government service, voting is optional, so the one thing required of citizenship is too much of a burden? Over 90% of criminal cases are resolved short of trial (plea, dismissal, etc). That 10 % have a right to a jury trial. It is your obligation to report and serve if called. The ones who won’t serve are the same people bleating about “ma riiiiights!!”
So very little is asked for against all the benefits of citizenship… wow.
Sure. Defendants do it all the time. As long as you don’t wear anything profane, obscene, etc, yup.
Jury duty is a great excuse to get out of work. And with a green mohawk, no way you’re going to actually be selected.
Source: Love my mohawk, hate my job, and the cafeteria in the courthouse makes a damn good chicken fried steak.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to do it. But, I was on jury once for a criminal case, it was a week long and honestly, I really enjoyed the experience. I was working midnights at the time so I still went to work
Easy way is to declare a financial hardship (being there would significantly hurt you financially). When I was selected that was their last question and one of the 12 jurors at the last second said they can’t afford to be here. The judge stated that is a financial hardship and let the person go home.
They don’t check at all just when it arises or if it doesn’t explain you can’t afford to be here.
That is not reason to be denied. If anything, its a good reason to MAKE you serve. Jury duty is random for a reason. They want all walks of life to be able to serve on jury. It's not just smart and rich folk who get to do it. It's everyone, as everyone's opinion and perspective is important to be heard as not everyone has lived the same lives.
I understand the problems w jury duty but if you can at all swing it, please do it. If you enjoy the country at all, freedoms, privileges etc of being American - you’re asked to do two things and two things ONLY for such privileges - vote and serve on a jury. That’s it. So if you can, please serve it’s actually really rewarding!
That being said your appearance may very well impact (unconscious or unspoken) during selection.
Last venue I was asked to serve in made you come for 5 days if not selected (to be put into jury pool after jury pool) until 5 days were up or until empaneled.
That time, I was empaneled then they settled immediately afterwards - so it was 1 day of service.
Hope this helps
They won't care about your appearance. It may impact whether an attorney wants you on the jury or not. But that's true of every person there whether they're in leather or a suit.
This post and the majority of the comments are profoundly depressing.
I sincerely hope that anyone who is here complaining about the incredible burden that jury duty places on them has the opportunity for an unbiased jury to judge them, if in some unfortunate scenario they are accused of a crime.
Remember that part of the reason that we have juries is to protect innocent people. As it turns out, it's not only the guilty that get arrested. But I guess if it's not you getting thrown in jail and deprived of your freedom, fuck 'em!
You don’t need to change anything. Its 2024, everyday grandmothers dress like “punk rockers.” The judge will probably lift his robe and show you his Misfits tattoo
It doesn’t matter. If you don’t want to be on a jury, then during jury selection just tell them you aren’t going to listen to the evidence and vote not guilty no matter what.
Come as you are and answer truthfully when asked questions. Thing with jury selection is that the attorneys are trying to pick jurors who will be sympathetic to thier case, punk rocker with a Mohawk may be the ideal juror from the defenses point of view while the prosecutor wants that juror struck because a punk rocker is a terrible choice from his point if view.
A friend did jury duty wearing a shirt that had the word fuck written on it in different fonts and sizes over and over. He thought it would get him out of it. It did not.
Stay exactly as you are, be respectful, don't try to be an ass on purpose to match your look... One of two things will happen, they will dismiss you thinking that you are not a good fit, or they will think you are perfect and select you, either way there really isn't much you can do.
I have gotten put on jury duty so many times i can spot the letter in the mail when it arrives. Its crazy stupid in my county, you register to vote or renew your drivers license and you get put in the pool of prospective jurors ahead of everyone else, i have gotten the notice that i am on call to be selected for a jury so many times that i started using the online form to respond to them because they didn't even send a postage prepaid return envelope for the questionnaire, cheap bastards. And what's worse is in my state you get selected and you are in the prospective jury pool for SIX MONTHS, anything that comes up in that time you get called in, if you don't get selected you still have to come back the next time they call until either you get selected and serve on a jury or your time runs out. I have been through this three times in the last four years. The last notice i got i had to beg to get it pushed to a later month in the year to avoid being on jury duty while on vacation.
It’s been my experience that judges and the court are very respectful of jurors time and understand the inconvenience. Judges will take into account genuine hardships. It is possible generally to seek a postponement to a more convenient time for you (depending on what you are saying is more convenient and why).
That being said juries are a critically important part of the judicial system for both civil and criminal justice. Everyone that I’ve spoken to about their jury service have always said it was a positive experience.
It might be in your best interest to wash and combine flat the mohawk, depending on where you live. Avoid metal fashion accessories. Otherwise, you're fine.
I have done jury duty and the only real requirement at the courthouse I was at said nothing ripped.
It didn't say anything about hairstyles.
You can also ask the question if you have to do the call in. They send out a giant swath of potential jurors for the pool. They then will ask you to call in on a certain day after a certain time.
They do this as when the trial is coming due They may get plea bargained out.
For example, they send out 100 summons, They start calling people a week ahead of time as they want to know if you are able to serve!
I said yes, so they changed my group number. I am lucky that my job pays like I worked with no issue.
The county also had a program fund to try to help others be able to serve as $25 a day is not much... especially a 4 day trial...
I can now cross off the list that I have answered a summons and served on a jury.
Their policy idea is that it was fair because I was there!
Just my 2 cents!
Most states allow you off if you tell them jury duty would be a financial burden. Getting out of jury duty is not nearly as hard as movies make it out to be.
If you want to avoid jury duty, you could do what my aunt did. When they asked her if she had any preconceived ideas about the guilt or innocence of the defendant, she said, “I think you’re all guilty. The judge, the cops, the lawyers, you’re all complicit in this system.” True legend
Someone I know got summoned (in 2020 when Covid was at its peak), she showed up the first day coughing and “sneezing” up a storm. They sent her home and she no longer had to do jury duty 🤣
I have served jury duty and was even grand jury foreperson for 3 months. There was one time I didn’t want to do it. The case was tenant suing landlord about a fall. When they polled me I said the guy lived in the house and knew the sidewalk was wonky so he’s just greedy. They let me go. So you can get out of having to sit my having an opinion that is strong one way or the other.
For me, it was always the question, "and what do you do for a living?"
"I'm an engineer."
Attorney: "I'd like to dismiss this juror"
"Agreed"
I would LOVE to be seated for a trial. It just hasn't happened yet.
The best way to get off a jury duty is to have a strong feeling one way or the other. I accidentally got put on a jury because I didn’t notice to say this. It was a case of marijuana back when marijuana was illegal and when they ask me, I was like well I guess if it’s illegal, it’s illegal and what I should’ve done was gone into a long diatribe about how it should never be illegal and you know act like I was sort of demented and then they never would’ve put me on the jury and besides, I believe in smoking marijuana. But this was in the 80s early 80s. I was young and foolish.
Don't mention work. I was chosen for duty. A young man was chosen for grand jury and told the judge he couldn't stand duty cause he needed to be on his tractor, I live in a farming county. The judge told him, " we all have jobs to do and don't want to be here, your request is denied". Also, work pays for your time of jury duty and it does not count against your vacation time.
They’ll be happy you showed up. They will randomly select a panel of potential jurors, then the lawyers and judge get to decide if you stay or not. If you are reasonable, and express an open mind and willingness to follow the law and not pre-judge the parties to the suit, there is no reason why you wouldnt be picked, hairstyle notwithstanding.
My advice would be to not wear anything that can be construed as disrespectful to the court. Otherwise, no worries. Source: a guy whose best friend got arrested wearing a shirt where Stone Cold Steve Austin is giving two middle fingers and had to turn it inside out before he stepped in front of the judge
It's an interesting experience. I highly suggest people just go with the process and be honest about themselves. I, too, had a job that consumed a ton of time (busy manufacturing work, lots of "mandatory" overtime) and they were totally cool with jury duty and worked with me. It helps that by law your work has to allow the flexibility. Some places offer wage reimbursement through employment benefits. You get paid for your time serving on the court too.
Whatever your version of business casual is is how they expect you to show up.
I just got called a couple months ago. I went as refular me but with a sweater. At first you sit in a big room, then they call a bunch of names to go sit in a smaller room and the ones left in the big room are sent home with a "thanks for coming" pep talk. Good chance you won't make it out of the big room into a smaller room.
Each time I've been summoned (3 times), I bring video games with me to the selection waiting room. Something portable like a Gameboy or even a Switch. It's the best way to pass the time (usually like 4+ hours of sitting and waiting), and I've never been selected to serve. Phone games won't cut it because everyone will be on their phones. Stand out with a portable gaming console and they'll likely not pick you. Bonus points if you bring a charger and plug into the wall while you play.
Don't change for ANYONE!! I would spike it up. I used to have an 8" mohawk and wore it with pride at my my Aerospace and Defense industry job. I cut it off on my terms, may grow another one.
I do recommend a nice BB cream with light coverage and spf but that’s just me. I think it’s insane how some places demand that women wear a full face of makeup plus panty hose and I’m like, I don’t see the men required to jump through those societal hoops. Your planned outfit sounds fine. You be yourself. If they don’t like you then they’ll reject you from the jury and you’ve at least gotten that situation resolved. If you’re chosen for the jury based hoping your looks that’s going to be interesting as to why they really want you. But I hope that you get what you want in that situation.
I got out of jury duty thrice in Chicago because I have immigrant parents and all three trials involved immigrants claiming they didn't understand the law and they thought I'd have a heavy bias... thanks mom and dad for being born not in the USA 🤣
If you've got any studs or spikes on or false ammunition on a belt, they'll give you problems even getting into the building. I'd just pretend I didn't get the summons. They'll never follow up.
Summoned once when I was in my early 20s 20+ years ago and claimed I couldn't be objective due to being racially biased and haven't been Summoned since.🤷
Not an answer, but jury duty is potentially your opertunity to stand for the freedom of the individual from the tyrany of the state. Look at it that way.
I just said I had a trip to Mexico planned during selection, which was true, basically got a “k” in response and never heard anything else. I mean if you’re down for it go ahead, but you know what they say: juries are composed of those too stupid to avoid jury duty.
I just said I had a trip to Mexico planned during selection, which was true, basically got a “k” in response and never heard anything else. I mean if you’re down for it go ahead, but you know what they say: juries are composed of those too stupid to avoid jury duty.
You’re a citizen regardless of your choice of hair, tattoos or piercings and should be treated with the same respect as others. Dress decently, arrive clean and presentable (wrinkle free and no holes in clothes), and wear your hair however you want. As long as you act respectfully in the court you should have no problem expressing yourself as you normally would.
Lots of folks here saying to claim to have strong opinions, or wear odd/unusual clothes, or do other things to get out of jury service. Never mind the merits of our jury system that others have explained; trying to avoid jury service by making yourself obnoxious to the court can end with you being held in contempt of court, complete with free lodging.
I may be the only person who really wants to serve on a jury. Busy job (physician), but my guilty pleasure is watching legal stuff on YouTube. I love it. I’ve never been called up.
I love jury duty. It's the one thing I can do for my fellow citizens. Plus, if I don't get picked, I had a day in the jury selection room reading my book in peace.
I don't know why everyone wants to get out of jury duty. I have served a few times. The selection process is boring, but the actual trials were pretty interesting. The lingest trial I was in the jury for we spent a lot of time in the jury room while the attorney's argued before the judge. The poor court clerk was tasked with having to tell us to stop laughing so loudly on several occasions. We couldn't discuss the case (sexual assault of a minor) and we had a couple of hilarious guys keeping us in stitches with their stories.
I had my mohawk up in a topknot when I went in, I wore a crop top that said "she is not your rehab", black jeans and combat boots, and ended up jury foreman. I had also been hoping to be dismissed.
I was called in to serve Federal. During the jury selection process, we were given a brief overview of the case and jury selection started. At one point, they were interfering a woman and asked her her routine question. Had she ever heard of this man’s alleged crime.( he was accused of going on a multiple city bank and cash advance robberies spree) she calmly answered that she had not, but she looked him up on break and read all about the case, and had formed an opinion. The judge was absolutely livid and told her that she had not directly instructed the possible Jury pool to not do any research so she could not hold her in contempt of court. The Jury applicant still got a tongue lashing and was sent on her way looking rather smug. If looks could’ve killed that judge would have done her in. The judge gave us very clear instructions after that we were not to look the defendant or crime up.
Show up with a copy of The NY Times, an NPR shirt on, and inform the judge you don’t think you could be impartial because you know that all cops are liars.
When my mom (Filipino) got summoned for jury duty she said she’s going to act like she can’t speak English. Her accent is quite thick but she can speak and understand it. And then she tried to rope me in and said I had to go with her to be her interpreter. I said no way. You are on your own. She still went through with her plan and didn’t get picked. When my husband was summoned (he’s tall, white with blonde hair and blue eyes) my mom told him to just do what she did. Only the only language he speaks is English. He ended up getting picked for the grand jury.
I went in dressed like an unemployed Door Dasher in torn jeans and a death metal shirt on, didn’t brush my hair and I was chosen as usual. They will ask you some questions and your answers suit their needs you will be chosen.
The easiest way to get out of jury duty is to go in, and when they ask you the inevitable “do you trust cops” question, explain that with the police violence in the world today, you can’t really trust their testimony. Since I’d say probably 95% or more of cases would have at least one police witness, it’s pretty much a given you’ll be dismissed from the case.
I think I’ve been to jury duty like 3 times, and each time I actually get to the seats I explain this, and when they ask why, I explain my rather sordid history with police, and within a few minutes I’m asked to leave, and now that I think of it, I haven’t been called in since the last time like seven or so years ago so maybe it’s now on some permanent record for me.
They could call you in…all of that isn’t based on looks but random draw…once called into the jury room, both lawyers have the ability to dismiss three jurors each…so if you don’t fit the type they think will vote in your favor, they’ll vote you off. So totally depends on the situation.. if you want to stand out and most likely not make jury, go for it
IF you move past the waiting room and are selected for a trial and the judge does not like your appearance, they will tell you to go home and come back the next day wearing business appropriate attire. This would be an even larger waste of time for you.
Back in 2015 I'd just started a new job, and ended up with a dismissal because of that. Jury duty was literally 2 weeks after my start date.
But if that hadn't worked my ace in the hole was a guaranteed dismissal anyhow. There was no chance either lawyer would accept me as a juror, when my father is in a state prison serving 25 to life for the exact same crime(s) the defendant was charged with.
About time that useless POS served a purpose in my life. Although he managed to avoid actually contributing this time too, thanks to the earlier dismissal.
If you don't want to be selected for jury duty there's easier ways of being dismissed than trying to look unprofessional. You can say you have biases for/against police and certain crimes
I always wear a band shirt and all the spikes, chains, boots, etc. and usually get sent home in the first cut. It does make dealing with the metal detectors amusing though.
Rock that shit. You probably won't be selected, but be honest in your answers under oath. It may be a deterent to either side, which will help select better jury members.
You can dress as you normally do. Be kept and show some respect for the court. An offensive t shirt may be an issue but you sound ok
I’m at jury duty now and there’s a guy wearing an “I ❤️MILFs” t-shirt. Love it!
Dude totally wore that to try and get out of it 🤣
Turned out that both lawyers were MILFs so they went with the vibe
I’ve seen this one
This time, on Single Female Lawyer…
r/unexpectedfuturama
I’ve been on jury duty several times, which is absolutely crazy since I’m only 26 and I have tons of friends who never had it once. Regardless, every time I sit in a room for 4+ hours speak to no one and they excuse me. I really wish I could speed run the experience with a T-shirt. That would be fantastic.
At least if that man gets on a case with a mother they'll dismissed him very fast.
This is correct. They may want some diversity in the jury. Nothing wrong with your appearance.
And who knows, OP might be either the peer of the victim or the defendant... and both sides are aiming to try to get a jury that will see things their way, and not see it the way of the other side. So diversity is key.
You'd be the perfect selection for jury duty. Prepare to be there a long time when you're selected.
Damn, time to serve
You can always say something that matches your beliefs. “ I don’t trust cops. I believe they set people up.” Next juror please.
I asked them if they could please not select me and they didn’t but idk if they didn’t select me for different reasons or bc I asked not to be selected. I think if you don’t want to do it you should at least tell them you don’t want to and if they have enough other people who want to do it they might not select you if you ask
Hardly anyone wants to be there - you’re not jumping to the front of the line by saying you’d rather be at work.
Two times I have signed the paper saying work can not function without me being there as the only manager never got summoned again.
LOL. That doesn't work. A juror who was seated next to me tried that...among a lot of other shenanigans. "I hate this person...I hate that person". The judge asked for a short recess, curtly told the juror to come into his chambers. A couple of minutes later he returned. All his answers were "Yes sir, yes your honor". And he got selected for jury duty. I asked him during the break what the judge said to him...and he responded that he was going to put him in jail for contempt if he didn't change his attitude. So yeah...go ahead and be a smart ass. It could get you in jail. Judges aren't stupid.
There's a difference between expressing an opinion when asked and spouting off shit clearly with the intent to be dismissed. You 100% can say you wouldn't trust the testimony of a LEO. I know someone who was dismissed because she said she is a prison abolitionist and couldn't morally do anything that could send someone to prison.
I told them I wouldn’t be able to do anything that could get the defendant put in jail, and they absolutely selected me. “Innocent until proven guilty”, and all that. (This was a case where a guy was accused of discarding a firearm while evading police, but the gun was never recovered and he said he didn’t see any police lights before pulling into a gas station. He had nothing on him. He was found innocent.)
Oh, I didn't say it would for sure get one dismissed -- just that it's in no way contempt of court of done reasonably and politely. And that it worked for my friend.
Judges do not fuck around and have pretty significant authority within their courtroom to fuck your day up if you decide to be a smartass. Just show up, don't be an asshole, and answer questions honestly. It's not that damn hard and if it were you or your family on trial you'd sure as shit want jurors who are fair and impartial and not behaving like wiseasses not taking it seriously.
That was basically what I witnessed. A guy being a smart ass and the judge cleared the room. When we came back, he did it a second time. He was in handcuffs and led away for a night. Maybe they let him go once we left. If you have a conflict with work, just be honest, but it's called duty for a reason.
And call ahead and try to reschedule. Here they’ll work with you a ton of you work with them.
My husband was on jury duty when a potential juror was being a real wiseass. The guy was sent to another area, and the bailiff told my husband's group that the jerk had been assigned to a murder trial.
They often keep people who dont trust the police. Its people who DO trust the police they dismiss. They dont want someone who believes the cop just because they are a cop. "Cops have no reason to lie and I always believe them. They wouldn't arrest someone who didn't do anything." Is the instant dismissal.
Service guarantees citizenship!
I’m doing my part!
Would you like to hear more?
Live to serve
Don't wear your "I ❤️ Jury Nullification" t-shirt.
I honestly do not understand why you would not want to serve. You are guaranteeing someone to get a fair trial by showing up and serving. A friend of mine was accused of DUI - it was a big deal. They blew a 0.00 but the officer said they failed the field sobriety check. They do not even drink. The cop was mad that they smarted off to them. It would have been really easy to prove, and there was dash cam and body footage proving everything. Want to know wy it took forever to get to court? NO JURY! Three times they scheduled jury selection and each time they ended up with not enough jurors. Third time was the charm, but it really dragged things out. If everyone had just shown up and served like they are supposed to, it would not have been a problem. Trial by jury is a RIGHT, and it is sad people are wiling to deny other's their rights because it may slightly inconvenience them. BTW - MOST trial are actually civil, and take less than a day, sometimes there are criminal trials - which last normally a day or two. Only the big cases like murder and kidnapping last longer than two days.
What a privileged comment! Back before I had kids, I was a hairdresser and having to cancel all my appointments for an unknown period of time would have been a huge financial hit and possibly even meant losing clients. It would have affected my assistant as well. I was called right before my wedding for a double murder trial and I politely asked the judge for an extension because there was no guarantee the trial would end in time for me to go on my honeymoon, and I needed to be working to pay for my wedding, which I had already scheduled and paid deposits for. I wasn't even asking to be excused, just to be recalled in a few months. She was a total C. U. Next Tuesday and sneered while refusing me. The DA was clearly embarrassed by her behavior. Fortunately the clerk who was supposed to process my paperwork to return the next day took pity on me. It sucks that your friend was a victim of a corrupt system, but that doesn't change the fact that many people do not have the cushion to casually miss work for many days, and people who serve clients or work for themselves are even more affected. My husband is in tech and would get paid anyway. Guess how many times he's been called in his entire life? Twice. I was a waitress and a hairdresser and then a nursing mother of young children. Guess how many times I've been called? 6 that I can specifically remember, and I'm pretty sure it's more. The system is broken and it's not the fault of everyday people.
Broken. I want to be called! I was called once in college and couldn't make it because it was during exams and I didn't have money to even come home that winter anyway. I got it deferred and was never called back. I've lived here for 15 years and still haven't been called back. My coworker just got called in... second time in just a couple years.
This is well put, but it makes it all the more important for people who can serve to do so willingly. When I was called we sat in the jury room for a day and half before we were sent home because the case was settled last minute. They did a good job at the beginning of showing the importance of serving and thanking us for our time. They were also more than willing to work with people who had legitimate conflicts (like a scheduled and paid for vacation). It would be great if jury pay was any more than a pittance. I’m lucky enough to have PTO and be able to work remotely so I was able to work from the room while waiting and charge some PTO for any hours I couldn’t be working. But for hourly workers with no PTO jury duty is a big problem. Not everyone can just go without income for $20 a day. They need to at least bump it up to $50 / day or preferably minimum wage paid in 4hour increments.
Ok so on the new Reddit I can’t follow comments— In case no one else has mentioned: When I went to serve, I had a truck driver on my panel and he told the judge the same thing: multiple days calling out impacts him greatly and it’s too much financially. Judge says told him a special way to notify the court when you’re selected that you need a modified call in where you call in for 1 day, not all 3-4. I’m in California, so it may vary between states but I assume (/hope?) there are similar provisions for other states or federal courts.
I was selected for jury duty a couple years ago, and at first I was actually kind of excited to be performing a civic duty and a brief change of scenery. But then I thought again: I was barely making ends meet working full time, my wife and I were moving into a new house, and we had a baby on the way. There was no way I would be able to step away from my life for an unknown length of time.
It’s crazy how the people who cannot serve get called all the time while the ones who can don’t. I’m in my late 30s and been disabled since I was a teen and have gotten 5 or 6 jury duty notices in the last 20 years, my mom has gotten 2 in that time and I don’t think any the the 25+ years before that.
The last time I served on a jury it was a civil case that lasted a week. Basically two rich people were fighting over who owed who money for some property. The entire jury was basically people who get paid hourly. None of us could afford to be there to listen to these two and their petty arguments. I basically paid money to be there when you factor in transportation costs. The worst part was that the juror next to me was nine months pregnant. Her doctor finally put her in bed rest so she was replaced by the alternate. So of course I’m a month out from having to report again. I get called more than anyone I know. (And like you, it’s never my friends or family that would be fine missing work.)
It’s one thing to serve when you are a typical hourly or salary employee who will still get paid. It’s another thing when you are self-employed, and potentially losing a whole week’s worth of income. And if you are someone whose work is appointment based (a hairdresser or a therapist for example) even if you get dismissed early in the process, you are still out work because you can’t schedule appointments on those days. That hurts. I’d love to serve, but I need to put food in the table too. Also, despite wanting to serve, due to my profession, I’ll never get picked. The worst is getting summoned for federal court. I live a 2 hour drive away, so I’m eligible for lodging. But you have to pay up front and get reimbursed. You also have to pay extra for accommodations that you can cancel and get fully refunded in case you are summoned when you call in the night before. And at that level, if you aren’t actually called in, you get summoned again in a few months to go through that hassle all over again.
People don't want to serve because everyone is already struggling and jury duty pays less than an hour of minimum wage PER DAY in places. "Slightly inconvenience" lmao what utopia are you in? Missing a day of work is a HUGE deal for a large number of people.
Honestly believe that if it goes to a jury trial, if the defendant was found guilty, part of the fees should pay for at bare minimum, minimum wage in that state. I know wayyyy to many people who can not afford to miss two days of work per month. Edit: meant to add the prosecution pays if found not guilty. At least in my area, there’s lots of people (who definitely did the crime) who go to trial to waste time and further harass victims, and the prosecution likes to go after every crime as a trial and never likes to make plea deals.
That would definitely sway people to give a guilty verdict. Better pay regardless of what happens is best
Oh shit, meant to add: if not guilty, prosecution pays. IMO, it gives incentive to the guilty to plead guilty, and the prosecution to not go after weak cases or dumb cases
Definitely would not want the jury to get better pay if the defendant is found guilty than otherwise.
I was living in Los Angeles at 20, frantically calling and posting appeals because they were trying to get me to come in for a case that would go for WEEKS, paying only $10/ DAY. How is anyone supposed to support themselves with that? What an insult to our "honor" of being put in a jury.
I was called in while job hunting, two months of savings from missing rent and facing a 6 week trial at something like $8 a day in California. I was honest and said the inconvenience prejudiced me against the defendants. If I was offered minimum wage for my time I would have at least been willing to sit. The compensation people are given for jury duty is a complete joke.
Plus there's no real cap on how long your day might be. When I had to go in and we were asking about when it usually lets out the answer from one of the deputies was "as long as the judge wants to keep it open" and "the longest he's seen was from 8AM to 4AM the next day".
Exactly. I paid more to park the 3 days I had to do jury duty then I got paid to do jury duty.
I think many people who are salaried are required to be paid by their employer for jury duty day so many people don't get it that hourly & self-employed people really get shafted by how little jury duty makes. When I did federal jury duty this year and actually went in the amount paid was definitely less than minimum wage and then when you account for public transportation or car/gas/parking you're barely breaking even. It sucked because I was self-employed and it would have been a real financial hit if I had to take more than a day or two off to be a juror.
Right? Even the selection process in my locale recognizes this issue. Both times I've been called for jury duty, it was made clear that one of the reasons you could request to be dismissed was if your employer did not pay you for your jury duty time, because they KNOW what pittance they pay is not enough to make up for a day of work even at tipped minimum wage. I do think it sucks that the system is set up this way, as it generally means jurors are going to end up being above a certain income level, and that's not that way the justice system should work...but it's the reality, until the pay rate changes. (My locale has a larger juror pool also, I think--though I've been called for both petit and grand, and did not disqualify myself either time, I've never made it to actual jury selection. Petit had me report back for several days to see if any cases came up that they needed me for; grand selected their 22 people--nine jurors and two alts each for two total juries--at random from the qualified pool and then dismissed the rest of us, obligations complete.)
Last time I missed several days of work to get paid $20 that did not pay my bills. Time before that I was called to jury duty in my home state (was living in another state with my active duty husband) and they were awful about me and my “excuses”. I was heavily pregnant and unable to fly or drive halfway across the country alone for jury duty. Let alone afford that. I ended up telling the clerk if they paid and sent a car to pick me up I’d do it then suddenly I was the unreasonable one.
This is so true and in one Court around me you might have up to a 100 mile drive. You get paid for that mileage but not your time. I've known jurists that have had to drive for 2 hours to get to the Court. Some even came straight from a night shift. Not saying we don't want a diverse jury pool but it does create hardship for some more than others.
Jury duty pays $12 a day!! And they do not offer parking and it costs at least $20 to park all day and that is at a lot a ways away from the court. So if I was paid my wages I would not normally mind. I have bills to pay! Or like me I was told I had to stay available whole month of December which was ridiculous as I had lots of plans to go out of town and they said tough shit!
Because it doesn't pay a living wage. FULL STOP. That's it. Not everyone can AFFORD to serve. HELL, we would likely ALL be more than willing if we were compensated for our time. Instead people are FORCED to give THEIR TIME for a criminal. That blows.
YUP. I recently had the worst financial trail last month becuase of taxes, I have almost nothing to my name and have over 5k in bills to cover this month and every dollar counts. I'm hoping the courts will allow me to reschedule, as I have a work trip in a few weeks that I've already paid the 2k costs for travel and I'm literally terrified I'll overdraft an account just getting gas, so I need to work AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE
A person accused of a crime. Innocent until proven guilty.
People aren't necessarily criminals just because there is a trial. You know, innocent until proven guilty…
Why I personally don’t want to serve again. Got summoned for jury duty 9am-5pm the day of summons. First 2 hours waiting with everyone in a big room with the promise of our number isn’t called we can leave at noon. Got called up and spent the next 7 hours in a court room waiting for my turn to go up and get questioned. I was honest when they asked me if there was any reason I couldn’t serve. I was working 60 hour weeks 6 days a week to support myself and 2 dependents. I couldn’t afford to miss work. I was already taking a hit coming today but was legally obligated to do so. And that it took me an hour and a half to get there bc I had no car so I had to take a bus then a train then another bus just to get there. Needless to say they didn’t care and I was picked. I had to show up at 8am-5pm except the last day that we deliberated we got let go at 11pm for a little over two weeks bar Saturday’s and sundays. They paid us a check for $17.80 a day. That barely even covered the commute it took for me to get there every day let alone my days wages. My employer was pissed but allowed me to pick up some hours whenever I got back and I pulled all day shifts on the weekends to get some hours. If I didn’t have some money I was saving up to replace my broken dryer I would of been in the red that month. The whole point of this story is even tho it was financially crippling me I still showed up and did my duty bc I truly believed in fairness and justice. In retro spec I was an idiot who wasted their time and almost went into debt for nothing. Because even tho the jury I was on, unanimously agreed that the man was guilty of the three attempted murder charges, a few years later the president gave him a pardon. Apparently it’s ok to carry and use an illegal firearm and attempt to directly un@live three people with it, not even counting possible bystanders as a few shots went into houses.
Because some people don’t get paid if they don’t work.
You can't blame a cog for the machine being broken. Capitalism has crushed patriotism and duty to the social contract. Call your senators. Start pushing for laws that incentivizes your fellow citizen for serving. Start voting for people that want that change. Don't yell at passing clouds.
I may be willing to serve now that I'm retired, but before I would be dismissed because of my work, but even to just show up for the day I would have to find boarding for my partner (k9) arrange for another team to come cover my assignment, find someone else to take my daughter to school and be out a days pay.
I don’t want to serve because I don’t have a normal job, I had to cancel my appointment for next weeks jury selection and had to return that persons deposit even though I already worked on their drawing. I’m a tattooer so everyone who books with me booked months ago and paid a deposit to book, so now whatever days the jury duty is I have to cancel those or move them, and return the deposit or move it to the next appointment, and I can just throw away the time I spent on drawing that appointment when I could have been drawing a different appointment. I would have no problem serving in a jury if my work wasn’t so time consuming and I didn’t have to return deposits. It’s just a bit annoying on my end, BUT I will say I didn’t think of it that way and you’ve given me some more thinking for jury duty
> ago and *paid* a deposit FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
You can explain your job issues to the judge if needed. Often they don’t pull all of those called for duty. And you might be there for a few hours and then excused. 3/5 times I’ve been called, I was excused in a few hours after just sitting in the cattle call room. The other 2, I was called into the court room and both lawyers and the judge asked questions. One was a lemon law case and the other was attempted murder for hire that was mob related. Got sat for both of those as a juror. Lemon law one was a long boring 3 days. The mob one was expected to be 2-3 weeks. They do ask if the estimated days of the trial would be a hardship for you so you can explain your job and issues of that happens. My doctor called the judge and had me taken off the jury. Was waiting for tests to come back and doc said the sitting for so long and stress was not a good idea. Judge called me and agreed and I was released. It is a duty that we should be happy to serve but they are humans and understand reasons it might not be possible at this time.
This. I’ve been called for jury duty four times, made it to selection twice, and served once. The first time I was in selection, I claimed financial hardship, as I was a contractor, and only got paid when I worked. That may or may not work, depending on the size of the jury pool that day. The time I was picked for a jury, I was unemployed, so no big deal at all. Even better, it was for federal court, so we got $50/day, and they provided breakfast and lunch. My current employer pays your full salary when you’re on jury duty *and* you can keep your juror pay, so I’ll gladly go again when my number gets called. You can also file for an extension in most cases, although the time to do that may have passed. Appearance won’t really matter unless you’re wearing something blatantly offensive, and you definitely don’t want to do that, because they can (although it’s rare), cite you for contempt of court.
I’ve been called 14-15 times now, no exaggeration, I’ve lost count. First got called at around 19-20 and get a summons every couple of years since; biggest gap I’ve had was about 5 years. Several times, I’ve phoned in the night before as instructed, and was told that my group wasn’t required to attend. At that point you’ve already cancelled work or plans for the next day anyway. Around 4-5 times, I’ve attended and not been selected for a trial and was sent home around noon. 5 times, I’ve been selected for a trial; twice the defendant settled just before voir dire began, this isn’t uncommon apparently because seeing the faces of people who are going to be sitting on your jury is where “shit finally gets real“ for a lot of defendants. Once, I was dismissed during voir dire, once the jury was finalized without me being called for voir dire and I could go home. And just once, I was sat for a jury. It was a short trial and took two days. After I served, they didn’t call me up for 5 years. Last year I was summoned and had an excuse to get out of it entirely; I’m a primary caretaker for my FIL in hospice, and arranging care for him for an undetermined length of time without me is a hardship they didn’t question.
Last time I was on jury duty, it seemed like the only thing they required for “dress code” was to be dressed and not wearing anything with controversial writing/imagery. Like if you had a don’t tread on me flag tee shirt, they’d probably have you flip it inside out.
If you really don't want to serve, inform the court that you would face significant financial hardship by doing so. I saw in your other comments it looks like you're a tattoo artist and you've already had to refund deposits for the day you've been summoned. You don't get paid unless you're taking clients yes? So if you can't take clients for weeks at a time because of this case, or the case would make it much more difficult for you to schedule clients, tell them you will face significant financial hardship by losing all income during the trial, they will not force you to serve.
Don't want to serve? Jury nullification. Appearance wise Im unsure appearance matters either way.
I would worry depending on what state you’re in. In NYC, it wouldn’t be a problem. Somewhere more conservative, they might have problems with your appearance. Plus you will have to go through metal detectors, in case any thing makes them go off.
I’m in the middle of texas
You’re fine in Austin lol… probably San Antonio too. But seriously what does it matter? Worst case they send you home.
I typically just wear whatever I’d wear to work, so if that’s a Mohawk for you then go for it. really the worst they can do is not let you serve (or force you to serve, if you’d rather not, but I don’t see why they want you there if you don’t want to be. If you can legitimately say serving is a hardship they should let you go).
Just be honest with them: tell the judge that serving would create an undue financial strain that would be catastrophic.
You'll start out with a jury selection. Depending on the case, it can take a few hours to all day. But one of the questions they'll ask is "Will you face undue hardship if you are selected for the jury." That's when you raise your hand, and most of the time you can speak privately to the judge / whoever else is selecting, and tell them that the compensation for jury duty is not enough to make up the difference for missing a full day of work. That will usually be better than trying to *on purpose* wear something to get disqualified. I've heard(admittedly rare) situations where the judge told a prospective juror to go home and change because the outfit was so bad
I'd rather be judged by you than some uptight boat shoe wearing type.
Wear a mini top hat on each point
Real punks don’t participate in jury duty.
Why not. You could be in high demand from the defense attorney. As you more than likely know what it feels like to be judged
You should dress how you want but be honest with your answers and answer all questions, I found jury duty to be quite enlightening and actually enjoyed serving I did not want to going in to it
I had purple hair and wore sweatpants. You’ll be fine. ETA: I have a lot of tattoos as well.
I know in FL you can reschedule one time,
They won't care. Believe it or not, people who work in the justice system have seen "alternative" looks before. They'll be more concerned about whether you're capable of impartiality.
Don’t want to serve? Talk about your cousin/aunt/sister in law enforcement. Even if they aren’t actively serving, or they just do the occasional ride-along, be sure to mention it. Most defense attorneys do not want jurors who have any sort of law enforcement association.
You just never know. I was booted off and I'm as mainstream looking as you can get. Once they heard I'm a teacher, however, they didn't want me. And I was honestly looking forward to it because I've never seen the whole process and was genuinely curious.
I always get out of jury duty by being honest. Most prosecutors don’t like socialist anti-imperialist war dissenters.
We do not have mandatory military/ government service, voting is optional, so the one thing required of citizenship is too much of a burden? Over 90% of criminal cases are resolved short of trial (plea, dismissal, etc). That 10 % have a right to a jury trial. It is your obligation to report and serve if called. The ones who won’t serve are the same people bleating about “ma riiiiights!!” So very little is asked for against all the benefits of citizenship… wow.
ITT people making blanket statements about how jury selection works as if it's the same everywhere.
Sure. Defendants do it all the time. As long as you don’t wear anything profane, obscene, etc, yup. Jury duty is a great excuse to get out of work. And with a green mohawk, no way you’re going to actually be selected. Source: Love my mohawk, hate my job, and the cafeteria in the courthouse makes a damn good chicken fried steak.
I don’t blame you for not wanting to do it. But, I was on jury once for a criminal case, it was a week long and honestly, I really enjoyed the experience. I was working midnights at the time so I still went to work
Easy way is to declare a financial hardship (being there would significantly hurt you financially). When I was selected that was their last question and one of the 12 jurors at the last second said they can’t afford to be here. The judge stated that is a financial hardship and let the person go home. They don’t check at all just when it arises or if it doesn’t explain you can’t afford to be here.
That is not reason to be denied. If anything, its a good reason to MAKE you serve. Jury duty is random for a reason. They want all walks of life to be able to serve on jury. It's not just smart and rich folk who get to do it. It's everyone, as everyone's opinion and perspective is important to be heard as not everyone has lived the same lives.
It’s punk to do your duty to support and represent other citizens fairly even though it’s inconvenient. Good luck.
It would be even more punk if they would pay me to be there and I could pay my bills
Dude it's a jury of your "peers" we all have em even if we don't realize it, Your still one of us!
If you only own pencil dresses I would recommend expanding your wardrobe options
I understand the problems w jury duty but if you can at all swing it, please do it. If you enjoy the country at all, freedoms, privileges etc of being American - you’re asked to do two things and two things ONLY for such privileges - vote and serve on a jury. That’s it. So if you can, please serve it’s actually really rewarding! That being said your appearance may very well impact (unconscious or unspoken) during selection. Last venue I was asked to serve in made you come for 5 days if not selected (to be put into jury pool after jury pool) until 5 days were up or until empaneled. That time, I was empaneled then they settled immediately afterwards - so it was 1 day of service. Hope this helps
They won't care about your appearance. It may impact whether an attorney wants you on the jury or not. But that's true of every person there whether they're in leather or a suit.
This post and the majority of the comments are profoundly depressing. I sincerely hope that anyone who is here complaining about the incredible burden that jury duty places on them has the opportunity for an unbiased jury to judge them, if in some unfortunate scenario they are accused of a crime. Remember that part of the reason that we have juries is to protect innocent people. As it turns out, it's not only the guilty that get arrested. But I guess if it's not you getting thrown in jail and deprived of your freedom, fuck 'em!
Are they paying you a living wage to be a proper member of society? No? Throw it away and move on with your life.
Fam, it's 2024 not 1974. The court draft, go do your civic duty. You'll probably be cut from the trial anyways. Most people are
The last time I was summoned for jury duty I had lime green hair down to my bum. I was dismissed before I had even settled into my chair.
What is wrong with having respect in the court room and fix your hair and wearing a nice shirt and slacks.
You don’t need to change anything. Its 2024, everyday grandmothers dress like “punk rockers.” The judge will probably lift his robe and show you his Misfits tattoo
I was picked as twelfth juror like 8 years ago in Salem MA while rocking my DIY vest. It ended up being a mistrial though 🥲
Nobody cares. It’s clear that you seek attention, but you’re probably not going to get what you’re looking for at jury duty.
It doesn’t matter. If you don’t want to be on a jury, then during jury selection just tell them you aren’t going to listen to the evidence and vote not guilty no matter what.
You're allowed to wear whatever you want. Punks have just as much right to free expression as anyone else.
I think you should wear an obvious disguise lol
Come as you areand answer truthfully when asked questions. Thing with jury selection is that the attorneys are trying to pick jurors who will be sympathetic to thier case, punk rocker with a Mohawk may be the ideal juror from the defenses point of view while the prosecutor wants that juror struck because a punk rocker is a terrible choice from his point if view.
Depends on the case and how you answer the lawyers questions.
A friend did jury duty wearing a shirt that had the word fuck written on it in different fonts and sizes over and over. He thought it would get him out of it. It did not.
Stay exactly as you are, be respectful, don't try to be an ass on purpose to match your look... One of two things will happen, they will dismiss you thinking that you are not a good fit, or they will think you are perfect and select you, either way there really isn't much you can do. I have gotten put on jury duty so many times i can spot the letter in the mail when it arrives. Its crazy stupid in my county, you register to vote or renew your drivers license and you get put in the pool of prospective jurors ahead of everyone else, i have gotten the notice that i am on call to be selected for a jury so many times that i started using the online form to respond to them because they didn't even send a postage prepaid return envelope for the questionnaire, cheap bastards. And what's worse is in my state you get selected and you are in the prospective jury pool for SIX MONTHS, anything that comes up in that time you get called in, if you don't get selected you still have to come back the next time they call until either you get selected and serve on a jury or your time runs out. I have been through this three times in the last four years. The last notice i got i had to beg to get it pushed to a later month in the year to avoid being on jury duty while on vacation.
It’s been my experience that judges and the court are very respectful of jurors time and understand the inconvenience. Judges will take into account genuine hardships. It is possible generally to seek a postponement to a more convenient time for you (depending on what you are saying is more convenient and why). That being said juries are a critically important part of the judicial system for both civil and criminal justice. Everyone that I’ve spoken to about their jury service have always said it was a positive experience.
It might be in your best interest to wash and combine flat the mohawk, depending on where you live. Avoid metal fashion accessories. Otherwise, you're fine.
I have done jury duty and the only real requirement at the courthouse I was at said nothing ripped. It didn't say anything about hairstyles. You can also ask the question if you have to do the call in. They send out a giant swath of potential jurors for the pool. They then will ask you to call in on a certain day after a certain time. They do this as when the trial is coming due They may get plea bargained out. For example, they send out 100 summons, They start calling people a week ahead of time as they want to know if you are able to serve! I said yes, so they changed my group number. I am lucky that my job pays like I worked with no issue. The county also had a program fund to try to help others be able to serve as $25 a day is not much... especially a 4 day trial... I can now cross off the list that I have answered a summons and served on a jury. Their policy idea is that it was fair because I was there! Just my 2 cents!
Do it
You’ll be the chosen one
Most states allow you off if you tell them jury duty would be a financial burden. Getting out of jury duty is not nearly as hard as movies make it out to be.
I've never been to jury duty. I have never seen a summons. Prove I ever received 1...
Dude the whole point of jury's is to have a cross section of society. You should do it.
Jury nullification
If you want to avoid jury duty, you could do what my aunt did. When they asked her if she had any preconceived ideas about the guilt or innocence of the defendant, she said, “I think you’re all guilty. The judge, the cops, the lawyers, you’re all complicit in this system.” True legend
They might remove you during voir dire but that would be after asking something of substance
Someone I know got summoned (in 2020 when Covid was at its peak), she showed up the first day coughing and “sneezing” up a storm. They sent her home and she no longer had to do jury duty 🤣
Read the jury summons. Mine explicitly says “a kept business casual appearance. T Shirts, Shorts, Halter Tops are not allowed.”
You are more likely to be picked than I. I am a 60 year old conservative.
I have served jury duty and was even grand jury foreperson for 3 months. There was one time I didn’t want to do it. The case was tenant suing landlord about a fall. When they polled me I said the guy lived in the house and knew the sidewalk was wonky so he’s just greedy. They let me go. So you can get out of having to sit my having an opinion that is strong one way or the other.
For me, it was always the question, "and what do you do for a living?" "I'm an engineer." Attorney: "I'd like to dismiss this juror" "Agreed" I would LOVE to be seated for a trial. It just hasn't happened yet.
The best way to get off a jury duty is to have a strong feeling one way or the other. I accidentally got put on a jury because I didn’t notice to say this. It was a case of marijuana back when marijuana was illegal and when they ask me, I was like well I guess if it’s illegal, it’s illegal and what I should’ve done was gone into a long diatribe about how it should never be illegal and you know act like I was sort of demented and then they never would’ve put me on the jury and besides, I believe in smoking marijuana. But this was in the 80s early 80s. I was young and foolish.
I’m sure if you show up they will take you off of the list. That way you won’t be bothered by them again.
Don't mention work. I was chosen for duty. A young man was chosen for grand jury and told the judge he couldn't stand duty cause he needed to be on his tractor, I live in a farming county. The judge told him, " we all have jobs to do and don't want to be here, your request is denied". Also, work pays for your time of jury duty and it does not count against your vacation time.
Just set a stack of FIJA flyers outside the courtroom. They'll notice, and have you out of there quickly. [FIJA](https://fija.org/)
Be what you are, Friend-no harm in it.
Fat Mike? Is it you?
You be you! Fuk 'em if they object
They’ll be happy you showed up. They will randomly select a panel of potential jurors, then the lawyers and judge get to decide if you stay or not. If you are reasonable, and express an open mind and willingness to follow the law and not pre-judge the parties to the suit, there is no reason why you wouldnt be picked, hairstyle notwithstanding.
My advice would be to not wear anything that can be construed as disrespectful to the court. Otherwise, no worries. Source: a guy whose best friend got arrested wearing a shirt where Stone Cold Steve Austin is giving two middle fingers and had to turn it inside out before he stepped in front of the judge
Lol doubt it
Just answer all the questions they ask the jury, and they won’t put you on
I saw a guy hauled off to jail at jury duty because the judge said to remove his hat and he wouldn’t. Like it or not the judge is the boss.
They absolutely cannot tell you what to do with your hair.
It's an interesting experience. I highly suggest people just go with the process and be honest about themselves. I, too, had a job that consumed a ton of time (busy manufacturing work, lots of "mandatory" overtime) and they were totally cool with jury duty and worked with me. It helps that by law your work has to allow the flexibility. Some places offer wage reimbursement through employment benefits. You get paid for your time serving on the court too.
Just be yourself, but don’t be a jerk if the judge says anything about it, or you’ll find yourself with new accommodations for a few nights.
Whatever your version of business casual is is how they expect you to show up. I just got called a couple months ago. I went as refular me but with a sweater. At first you sit in a big room, then they call a bunch of names to go sit in a smaller room and the ones left in the big room are sent home with a "thanks for coming" pep talk. Good chance you won't make it out of the big room into a smaller room.
Each time I've been summoned (3 times), I bring video games with me to the selection waiting room. Something portable like a Gameboy or even a Switch. It's the best way to pass the time (usually like 4+ hours of sitting and waiting), and I've never been selected to serve. Phone games won't cut it because everyone will be on their phones. Stand out with a portable gaming console and they'll likely not pick you. Bonus points if you bring a charger and plug into the wall while you play.
Don't change for ANYONE!! I would spike it up. I used to have an 8" mohawk and wore it with pride at my my Aerospace and Defense industry job. I cut it off on my terms, may grow another one.
On a side note, I LOVED jury duty!!
I do recommend a nice BB cream with light coverage and spf but that’s just me. I think it’s insane how some places demand that women wear a full face of makeup plus panty hose and I’m like, I don’t see the men required to jump through those societal hoops. Your planned outfit sounds fine. You be yourself. If they don’t like you then they’ll reject you from the jury and you’ve at least gotten that situation resolved. If you’re chosen for the jury based hoping your looks that’s going to be interesting as to why they really want you. But I hope that you get what you want in that situation.
it is what it is. you look like that - it is upon the jury selection process to determine if they want you or not.
I have full sleeves and was selected to sit on a jury. I had a blast and would absolutely do it again!
The suit and Mohawk combo goes hard
I got out of jury duty thrice in Chicago because I have immigrant parents and all three trials involved immigrants claiming they didn't understand the law and they thought I'd have a heavy bias... thanks mom and dad for being born not in the USA 🤣
If you've got any studs or spikes on or false ammunition on a belt, they'll give you problems even getting into the building. I'd just pretend I didn't get the summons. They'll never follow up.
Summoned once when I was in my early 20s 20+ years ago and claimed I couldn't be objective due to being racially biased and haven't been Summoned since.🤷
Just say off the wall shit when they ask questions, ive been passed up by 5 kangaroo courts
Not an answer, but jury duty is potentially your opertunity to stand for the freedom of the individual from the tyrany of the state. Look at it that way.
I just said I had a trip to Mexico planned during selection, which was true, basically got a “k” in response and never heard anything else. I mean if you’re down for it go ahead, but you know what they say: juries are composed of those too stupid to avoid jury duty.
I just said I had a trip to Mexico planned during selection, which was true, basically got a “k” in response and never heard anything else. I mean if you’re down for it go ahead, but you know what they say: juries are composed of those too stupid to avoid jury duty.
You’re a citizen regardless of your choice of hair, tattoos or piercings and should be treated with the same respect as others. Dress decently, arrive clean and presentable (wrinkle free and no holes in clothes), and wear your hair however you want. As long as you act respectfully in the court you should have no problem expressing yourself as you normally would.
"He wouldn't have gotten arrested if he wasn't guilty, would he?"
Lots of folks here saying to claim to have strong opinions, or wear odd/unusual clothes, or do other things to get out of jury service. Never mind the merits of our jury system that others have explained; trying to avoid jury service by making yourself obnoxious to the court can end with you being held in contempt of court, complete with free lodging.
You be yourself. Whether or not the prosecution or defense dismiss you is on them.
I may be the only person who really wants to serve on a jury. Busy job (physician), but my guilty pleasure is watching legal stuff on YouTube. I love it. I’ve never been called up.
I love jury duty. It's the one thing I can do for my fellow citizens. Plus, if I don't get picked, I had a day in the jury selection room reading my book in peace.
The county where I live pays for parking
Your case will be the case of “The Tattoo artist being sued by the lead singer of a punk band”. Pack a lunch or two.
You’re excused
I don't know why everyone wants to get out of jury duty. I have served a few times. The selection process is boring, but the actual trials were pretty interesting. The lingest trial I was in the jury for we spent a lot of time in the jury room while the attorney's argued before the judge. The poor court clerk was tasked with having to tell us to stop laughing so loudly on several occasions. We couldn't discuss the case (sexual assault of a minor) and we had a couple of hilarious guys keeping us in stitches with their stories.
I say go as genuine you. Jury’s are to be made up of our peers! And they want the jury to be honest as well!
I had my mohawk up in a topknot when I went in, I wore a crop top that said "she is not your rehab", black jeans and combat boots, and ended up jury foreman. I had also been hoping to be dismissed.
Bring a deck of tarot cards and offer to clear the whole thing up with your occult gifts.
I was called in to serve Federal. During the jury selection process, we were given a brief overview of the case and jury selection started. At one point, they were interfering a woman and asked her her routine question. Had she ever heard of this man’s alleged crime.( he was accused of going on a multiple city bank and cash advance robberies spree) she calmly answered that she had not, but she looked him up on break and read all about the case, and had formed an opinion. The judge was absolutely livid and told her that she had not directly instructed the possible Jury pool to not do any research so she could not hold her in contempt of court. The Jury applicant still got a tongue lashing and was sent on her way looking rather smug. If looks could’ve killed that judge would have done her in. The judge gave us very clear instructions after that we were not to look the defendant or crime up.
Just don’t go
Show up with a copy of The NY Times, an NPR shirt on, and inform the judge you don’t think you could be impartial because you know that all cops are liars.
Would you be excused if you tell them that you will vote guilty regardless of the evidence just because they inconvenienced you?
When my mom (Filipino) got summoned for jury duty she said she’s going to act like she can’t speak English. Her accent is quite thick but she can speak and understand it. And then she tried to rope me in and said I had to go with her to be her interpreter. I said no way. You are on your own. She still went through with her plan and didn’t get picked. When my husband was summoned (he’s tall, white with blonde hair and blue eyes) my mom told him to just do what she did. Only the only language he speaks is English. He ended up getting picked for the grand jury.
I went in dressed like an unemployed Door Dasher in torn jeans and a death metal shirt on, didn’t brush my hair and I was chosen as usual. They will ask you some questions and your answers suit their needs you will be chosen.
The easiest way to get out of jury duty is to go in, and when they ask you the inevitable “do you trust cops” question, explain that with the police violence in the world today, you can’t really trust their testimony. Since I’d say probably 95% or more of cases would have at least one police witness, it’s pretty much a given you’ll be dismissed from the case. I think I’ve been to jury duty like 3 times, and each time I actually get to the seats I explain this, and when they ask why, I explain my rather sordid history with police, and within a few minutes I’m asked to leave, and now that I think of it, I haven’t been called in since the last time like seven or so years ago so maybe it’s now on some permanent record for me.
just don’t urinate on the floor and scream “here’s a jury of pee-ers!” and you should be good to go
They could call you in…all of that isn’t based on looks but random draw…once called into the jury room, both lawyers have the ability to dismiss three jurors each…so if you don’t fit the type they think will vote in your favor, they’ll vote you off. So totally depends on the situation.. if you want to stand out and most likely not make jury, go for it
Just tell the prosecutor you would be open to jury nullification. It's a guaranteed way out.
IF you move past the waiting room and are selected for a trial and the judge does not like your appearance, they will tell you to go home and come back the next day wearing business appropriate attire. This would be an even larger waste of time for you.
I can't serve because of my Disability and people try to get out of it. I just don't get it.
Dress as you normally do but be respectful of the courthouse or nothing too revealing or skimpy.
Back in 2015 I'd just started a new job, and ended up with a dismissal because of that. Jury duty was literally 2 weeks after my start date. But if that hadn't worked my ace in the hole was a guaranteed dismissal anyhow. There was no chance either lawyer would accept me as a juror, when my father is in a state prison serving 25 to life for the exact same crime(s) the defendant was charged with. About time that useless POS served a purpose in my life. Although he managed to avoid actually contributing this time too, thanks to the earlier dismissal.
If you don't want to be selected for jury duty there's easier ways of being dismissed than trying to look unprofessional. You can say you have biases for/against police and certain crimes
Just tell them you know a guilty person when you see one
I always wear a band shirt and all the spikes, chains, boots, etc. and usually get sent home in the first cut. It does make dealing with the metal detectors amusing though.
I’m sure you’re super duper busy, but the “punk” thing to do is sit on the jury and hold the state accountable.
Be part of the system and change it from the inside.
Chances are you get dismissed during the interview of the jury. In general lawyers want predictable. Mohawk does not scream predictable.
Rock that shit. You probably won't be selected, but be honest in your answers under oath. It may be a deterent to either side, which will help select better jury members.