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BBC News - Top judge says internet 'could kill jury system'

This is interesting point. I know it is in the UK, but I'm sure similar stuff are happening here, but what can they do? Punish?

In the U.S. there are so few juror cause people don't want to do Jury duty. It pays VERY little (in Dallas it is like 6$ a DAY which barely cover parking which is $10) most work place do NOT give a day off or two for jury duty. I use to work in private industry (IT) which you have to either take no pay, or use your own vacation day for it. Now I work for a community college and they give jury duty days if you are officially called (need letter as proof)

So...... people who actually do go and not finding a reason to "weasel out of it" do their duty but get "compensated" very little. I know people are suppose to do their duty as citizens, but if private companies don't compensate via paid time off then most of these people are doing on their own sense of duty.

So........... back on topic. What can government do?
Provide a place to Jurors to stay if needed? everyone required to check in their cellphone and their computer? Sure we can use the honor system, but there will always be a few that will use it anyways. Harsh penalties? that will just reduce the juror pool IMO.

What do y'all think?

Pay jurors a lot more, put them up in a hotel, jam their cellphones and internet connections. Give them secure phone lines to speak with family and friends but warn them that they could be monitored to ensure jury impartiality.

Yeah, I know that sounds drastic... but really how else are you going to ensure people aren't tweeting and facebooking about the details of a court battle? I really think that increasing the pay would help alleviate some problems.

Azurephoenix said:

Pay jurors a lot more, put them up in a hotel, jam their cellphones and internet connections. Give them secure phone lines to speak with family and friends but warn them that they could be monitored to ensure jury impartiality.

Yeah, I know that sounds drastic... but really how else are you going to ensure people aren't tweeting and facebooking about the details of a court battle? I really think that increasing the pay would help alleviate some problems.

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Yea, but now it is hard. Most of the government bodies (in most states) are losing tons of money. (I don't even know the who picture for Texas) but I know that Texas government are slashing budget left and right trying to balance their books and education seems to be one of them. Now of course in a perfect world, the government should get rid of the "feel good" programs that make the government look good, but doesn't do anything (my personal opinion) you hear all these pork barrels deal in the government level and I wonder why education is being slashed across the board.

Jury duty is a responsibility of citizenship. The allowance they give you per day is not meant to replace your normal pay.

Any carrot you offer people is only going to diminish the role of the juror in our society.

Yes, internet usage is a problem, but it's best dealt with on a per-court basis. Some judges won't allow phones and other electronic devices in the courtroom at all, and anyone caught violating that order is held in contempt of court - which means different things in different places.

I don't know that the latest round of problems requires a stronger solution.

First Lady Puffinstuff said:

Jury duty is a responsibility of citizenship. The allowance they give you per day is not meant to replace your normal pay.

Any carrot you offer people is only going to diminish the role of the juror in our society.

Yes, internet usage is a problem, but it's best dealt with on a per-court basis. Some judges won't allow phones and other electronic devices in the courtroom at all, and anyone caught violating that order is held in contempt of court - which means different things in different places.

I don't know that the latest round of problems requires a stronger solution.

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I was going to post the same thing as you. Jury duty is your responsibility as a citizen of a country. Don't like it? Stop being a leech and move the fuck out to Somalia.

In reguards to companies not giving you time off for Jury duty... I'm pretty sure that's illegal. Any business that punishes you for having jury duty needs to be reported.

Chazwozel said:

was going to post the same thing as you. Jury duty is your responsibility as a citizen of a country. Don't like it? Stop being a leech and move the fuck out to Somalia.

Click to expand...

How do you stop people from being idiots and using the internet and cellphones irresponsibly during a trial?

First Lady Puffinstuff said:

Any carrot you offer people is only going to diminish the role of the juror in our society.

Click to expand...

True, but by not offering a carrot at all you ensure that the jurors you get aren't exactly a great representation of the American people. As it is, jurors are overwhelmingly some combination of unemployed, uneducated, and/or retired. This tends to skew juries. Offering them just compensation and/or making it illegal for a business to punish an employee stuck with Jury Duty would go a long way towards filling the Jury pool with better candidates.

Besides, don't they provide protections/compensation to Guardsmen, draftees, and non-active/ex military members called back into active service? Why not provide these same protections to Jurors? Both are non-voluntary, government mandated citizen duties...

There's a lot of problems with jurors:
- you've got the ones who don't want to be there because they'd rather be working/on holiday/doing anything else
- there are the ones who will use their mobiles to research/text/tweet/facebook about the details of the case, and see what their friends think she should decide
- there are the jurors who have an agenda "I want to see someone go down" or "the police are always framing people. No way I'm believing this guy is guilty"
- there are the ones who have watched too much CSI/NCIS/whatever and place waaaay too much emphasis on DNA evidence or the lack thereof. It is entirely possible that the defendant made it in & out of the house he was burgling without leaving fingerprints or a big steaming heap of bodily fluids for the forensic team to find. Just because he didn't leave traces of semen on the window, that doesn't mean he didn't take the blu-ray player.

So while there are problems with jurors, what are the alternatives? Magistrates? No thanks, a mix of ignorance and self-importance isn't what we need. A single judge? Extremely unreliable, corruptible and fallible.

Jurors need an incentive to sit up, pay attention, follow the rules and make informed judgments. Civic responsibility is all well and good, but it doesn't pay the bills. Pay them decently, and make sure that breaking the rules is punished (preferably by community service for all but the most serious infractions).

David said:

In reguards to companies not giving you time off for Jury duty... I'm pretty sure that's illegal. Any business that punishes you for having jury duty needs to be reported.

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the issue is not time off. It is PAID time off (they are NOT require to do so) So you can take time off for jury duty and the company can't fire you for it, but a person who requires to serve (when summoned and selected) can be worst off especially when you get a case that is 2-3 weeks long (rare but it happens) and you live on month to month paycheck and lose 2-3 weeks of PAY

---------- Post added at 11:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:47 AM ----------

AshburnerX;453600][QUOTE=First Lady Puffinstuff said:

Any carrot you offer people is only going to diminish the role of the juror in our society.

Click to expand...

True, but by not offering a carrot at all you ensure that the jurors you get aren't exactly a great representation of the American people. As it is, jurors are overwhelmingly some combination of unemployed, uneducated, and/or retired. This tends to skew juries. Offering them just compensation and/or making it illegal for a business to punish an employee stuck with Jury Duty would go a long way towards filling the Jury pool with better candidates.

Besides, don't they provide protections/compensation to Guardsmen, draftees, and non-active/ex military members called back into active service? Why not provide these same protections to Jurors? Both are non-voluntary, government mandated citizen duties...[/QUOTE]

That is what I was going to say. Cause there are at least 10-15 reasons you can get out of jury duty. So the government get what they can find and hopefully the lawyers (both sides) will get to weed out and pick their candidate.

---------- Post added at 11:52 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

Mountebank said:

There's a lot of problems with jurors:
- you've got the ones who don't want to be there because they'd rather be working/on holiday/doing anything else
- there are the ones who will use their mobiles to research/text/tweet/facebook about the details of the case, and see what their friends think she should decide
- there are the jurors who have an agenda "I want to see someone go down" or "the police are always framing people. No way I'm believing this guy is guilty"
- there are the ones who have watched too much CSI/NCIS/whatever and place waaaay too much emphasis on DNA evidence or the lack thereof. It is entirely possible that the defendant made it in & out of the house he was burgling without leaving fingerprints or a big steaming heap of bodily fluids for the forensic team to find. Just because he didn't leave traces of semen on the window, that doesn't mean he didn't take the blu-ray player.

So while there are problems with jurors, what are the alternatives? Magistrates? No thanks, a mix of ignorance and self-importance isn't what we need. A single judge? Extremely unreliable, corruptible and fallible.

Jurors need an incentive to sit up, pay attention, follow the rules and make informed judgments. Civic responsibility is all well and good, but it doesn't pay the bills. Pay them decently, and make sure that breaking the rules is punished (preferably by community service for all but the most serious infractions).

Click to expand...

Yea.. that is another problem. I LOVE those shows, but as a juror I'm suppose to look at the evidence presented in the case only. Not what your neighbors think, not what your facebook friends think, or what your dog thinks. It is hard to find true 12 impartial peers.

Azurephoenix;453598][QUOTE=Chazwozel said:

was going to post the same thing as you. Jury duty is your responsibility as a citizen of a country. Don't like it? Stop being a leech and move the fuck out to Somalia.

Click to expand...

How do you stop people from being idiots and using the internet and cellphones irresponsibly during a trial?[/QUOTE]

Cut off their hands. DUH!

AshburnerX said:

As it is, jurors are overwhelmingly some combination of unemployed, uneducated, and/or retired.

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Evidence required.

In the two times I've been called to jury duty, and the one time I actually ended up sitting through a trial, the people there represented a very broad cross-section of life. The vast majority were working class citizens who had to leave their blue collar or white collar job for the day and sit in a room.

I'd appreciate understanding where you come by your information.

First Lady Puffinstuff said:

I'd appreciate understanding where you come by your information.

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It may just be due to my area, which is fairly low-income. The one time I was called in for jury duty, I was amazed half of them could stand upright, let alone read.

AshburnerX;453636][QUOTE=First Lady Puffinstuff said:

I'd appreciate understanding where you come by your information.

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It may just be due to my area, which is fairly low-income. The one time I was called in for jury duty, I was amazed half of them could stand upright, let alone read.[/QUOTE]

Heh, sounds like a jury of their peers, though...

I got a jury summons at the beginning of the month... after griping and whining about it, I went, because as it's already been stated, it's a civic duty. I was amazed at the folks that I recognized there (to include the suspect and several members of his family). He pled out before selection.

I'm supposed to call on the 29th of this month to see if I have to come in for Jury duty. It's rough because the end of the month is always hyper busy, but whatchagonnado, eh?

I personally don't mind a Jury duty summon since I work for a college. I will get paid time off as long as I serve. Thus far, I haven't had the honor to be selected yet.

BUT when I use to work in the private sector, I dread it. Why? cause each day I lose about 100$ in my paycheck (after taxes) Sure I got the time off and don't get into trouble (against the law to fire you for not showing up for work due to Jury Duty) but it sucks to lose that kind of money

Everytime I've been called to jury duty was right before I moved. First a week before I moved from NY to CO, so they sent notice to CO that I was due for jury duty. By the time they got around to it 2 years later, I was switching counties so had to be swapped to another district again. Thankfully my number wasn't picked that time because the courthouse for my county is something like a 90 minute drive away (gag).

Chazwozel;453593][QUOTE=First Lady Puffinstuff said:

Jury duty is a responsibility of citizenship. The allowance they give you per day is not meant to replace your normal pay.

Any carrot you offer people is only going to diminish the role of the juror in our society.

Yes, internet usage is a problem, but it's best dealt with on a per-court basis. Some judges won't allow phones and other electronic devices in the courtroom at all, and anyone caught violating that order is held in contempt of court - which means different things in different places.

I don't know that the latest round of problems requires a stronger solution.

Click to expand...

I was going to post the same thing as you. Jury duty is your responsibility as a citizen of a country. Don't like it? Stop being a leech and move the fuck out to Somalia.[/QUOTE]Agreed. This also applies to people in countries like Brazil and Israel trying to weasel out of obligatory military service.

Ho-lee-shit. A wild JCM appeared. That's like... rare as hell.

/throw pokeball

Those jurors are idiots. They should be fined for that kind of stupid shit. They specifically tell you not to discuss the cases or attempt to find outside sources.

Azurephoenix said:

Pay jurors a lot more, put them up in a hotel, jam their cellphones and internet connections. Give them secure phone lines to speak with family and friends but warn them that they could be monitored to ensure jury impartiality

Click to expand...

So turn it into a reality show and sell advertising?

I'm not sure that would be a step up or a step down.

Chibibar said:

BUT when I use to work in the private sector, I dread it. Why? cause each day I lose about 100$ in my paycheck

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Every company is different, but every company I've worked for in the private sector has paid the difference, so it's the same as working a full day (or multiple full days, in the case of longer trials).

But then I've always been salaried, and I'm sure hourly workers don't always get that. I know some hourly jobs do. The unions force the auto companies to pay full hourly rates for jury duty, so it really varies by company and industry.

But the vast majority of jury duty calls are one day, and only occasionally two days. Longer trials are actually pretty rare, compared to the number of people called to jury duty. While court trials are common TV fodder, most cases settle out of court.

SpecialKO said:

So turn it into a reality show and sell advertising?

I'm not sure that would be a step up or a step down.

Click to expand...

Haha! Touché

First Lady Puffinstuff;454035][QUOTE=Chibibar said:

BUT when I use to work in the private sector, I dread it. Why? cause each day I lose about 100$ in my paycheck

Click to expand...

Every company is different, but every company I've worked for in the private sector has paid the difference, so it's the same as working a full day (or multiple full days, in the case of longer trials).

But then I've always been salaried, and I'm sure hourly workers don't always get that. I know some hourly jobs do. The unions force the auto companies to pay full hourly rates for jury duty, so it really varies by company and industry.

But the vast majority of jury duty calls are one day, and only occasionally two days. Longer trials are actually pretty rare, compared to the number of people called to jury duty. While court trials are common TV fodder, most cases settle out of court.[/QUOTE]

Salary workers get the benefits, but I was hourly when I dread it (private sector) Of course I was working in IT (phone support) back then. you don't show up, you don't get pay. (unless using sick time or vacation time)