Jury Duty

You get what you pay for ($5)

One of these days I'll get around to writing an official letter to the editor about it. But don't hold your breath - I've been saying that since the last time I served on a jury in the 1980's (...when I lived in Essex county).

But until then, here are some rough notes penned at 3 in the morning so I can finally get this web site up:

If I were on trial and guilty, I'd want a jury. But if I were innocent, I'd be scared to death of a jury. I also believe that if you send the same case to different juries, you'd get different results. I guess I'm saying that a jury is little more than a flip of the coin. There's got to be a better way.

I've always found jury duty to be an insult. For what lawyers and judges make, it's absurd to have the entire legal system hinge on a $5 a day jury. That doesn't even buy lunch. And every time the judge carefully instructs the jury on how they should judge the case, I think "why aren't you doing this"? And the kicker is when a judge overturns a juries decision. A "professional" jury system might work, but an amateur one like we have now doesn't.

Some people never get called, and some always seem to get called. I've been called several times since I moved to Morris County. The problem is Essex county keeps calling me.

And it's more difficult on some people than others. People that don't drive, for example, which does not exclude you from serving. Real life story: My Mom used to get called a lot, but there is no public transportation between Fairfield and Newark. So how is she expected to get to jury duty, especially when what they reimburse you for transportation is another joke. It won't even pay for bus fare IF THERE WAS ONE. The very least they could is take people to don't drive to Newark and back, or at least to the nearest bus station.