So...what are you being charged with?
Jury Duty
- Thread starter moribundman
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Be assured from a person too stupid to get out of jury duty (hey - I was curious) - the driving goal seemed to be to get the bloody trial complete and get the heck out of that tiny room. Guilty was the quickest route.
Maybe that's why there are so many people in jail?
I had Jury duty and at least 80% of cases were OUIs. I got to see the smarmy types of defendants who believed their attorneys that said they had a fighting chance at a trial. (And paid their attorneys more $$$.)
Though one guy got off: He refused the breathalyzer and the cop "forgot" to load a videotape for his onboard dash camera that my tax dollars paid for. Not enough evidence.
This experience cleared any preconceptions I had about drunk drivers. Now, I personally hate 'em.
Though one guy got off: He refused the breathalyzer and the cop "forgot" to load a videotape for his onboard dash camera that my tax dollars paid for. Not enough evidence.
This experience cleared any preconceptions I had about drunk drivers. Now, I personally hate 'em.
What is INS?
A man without a country?
Mori, you say you don't vote so that means someone probably is voting for you
I just served for Jury duty a few weeks ago. California has 2 sources, DMV records and voter registrations. However, they should have you in the system as being a resident alien and shouldn't even be calling on you. In fact, the summons allows for an excuse to be filled out. IF you call the number and tell them I would think you wouldn't have to go to the courthouse and waste your time.
FWIW, I was kind of interested to serve this time. It was an accident case but they dismissed me when they saw I had an ankle brace. When questioned about it I said it was "a miscalculation of my age, ability, and gravity." The judge asked me not to get into specifics about what happened to me, but did I feel that this would cloud my judgment I should say so. I said no, "I wasn't suing someone over my stupidity if that is what you mean". The defense lawyer gave me the meanest glare. I didn't realize what I had said until after they thanked me for my time and moved to dismiss me.
Honestly, I wanted to be on the case. My company pays 2 weeks for jury service, so I wouldn't be out anything. It would have been nice to get away from the office. Plus for $15 you could have access to the Internet all day while in the waiting room. More time for BITOG.
Lou,
Dann sure gonna remember that line!!
Bob
Dann sure gonna remember that line!!
Bob
I've run across lots of Mori's in Florida in winter. They maintain a home here as residents (but not citizens) and go back to the old country for some weeks or a couple of months to maintain their citizenship there so their health care is free, and paid for even if they get sick here, by their home country. It's a Euro thing.
And?
And what? That's it. That's why a lot of Euros maintain the link to the mother-lode, for the health care..
I recently served on a federal grand jury in New Orleans after Katrina. Interesting to say the least. My wife asked me why I didn't get excused. I told her I found it very difficult to lie under oath to a federal judge. Other prospective jurors apparently felt otherwise. Overall I was very impressed with the quality of the federal agents from various agencies who testified before the grand jury, in particular, the DEA guys. After a six month term of hearing federal criminal indictments, my impression that it is not as safe out there as most people assume was certainly reinforced. Also that it's not nice to mess with the feds. On the immigration front, with the influx of Central/South American labor to rebuild the area, most illegal, the city may soon be renamed Nuevo Orleans.
There are so many in jail bc we don't enact the death penalty for one thing. And jail is so good that going to jail (3 squares/day, exercise, no worry about a job, free medical care, etc.). And on the other hand there are not enough in there bc the "bleeding hearts" get on the juries. Engineers, military types, and peeps with an ounce of common sense don't get picked. Look at the O.J. trial.
I saw that first hand when I was up for District Dourt. I presume I was scratched bc I was an engineer..bc they asked my occupation and whether I served in the military...And I didn't serve in the Military
The outcome of OJ's trial is what permanently destroyed my faith in this country's judicial system. The last thing I want is to be a member of a jury who's other members can't tell their asses from a hole in the ground. If I'm going to sit through a court case, I'm going to put forth an effort to render a respectable verdict, not one that will get us out quicker. So, when I was summoned, I had already determined that I would say some things that would surely get me disqualified. Luckily, it didn't come to that, as we were excused 5 minutes after being seated because the prosecutor dropped the charges. Spent the rest of my 'jury duty' day cleaning up my truck. 
I proudly served on a jury a couple of years ago. I feel it's our civic duty to serve when called. I found it pathetic the lies and excuses people were using to get out of serving during jury selection.
It was all very fascinating. Deliberating and arguing in the jury room was awesome. I never knew I could be so argumentative and assertive in that situation. After hearing the testimony I was as certain as I could be that he did it, and we had to convince a couple of the others.
BTW, I'm an engineer, there was at least one other engineer, some housewives, a couple of younger folk. Certainly no bleeding hearts present. We sent him "up the river".
It was all very fascinating. Deliberating and arguing in the jury room was awesome. I never knew I could be so argumentative and assertive in that situation. After hearing the testimony I was as certain as I could be that he did it, and we had to convince a couple of the others.
BTW, I'm an engineer, there was at least one other engineer, some housewives, a couple of younger folk. Certainly no bleeding hearts present. We sent him "up the river".
Um, I'm going to clear up some confusion about "Residency."
A person from the EU can live in the United States as a "permanent resident alien" ("green card" holder) and never have to return to their country of citizenship. For instance, if you were from Germany and had the legal right to live in the United States, you wouldn't have to go back to Germany periodically for any citizenship reason (ie, voting, insurance, pension, etc.). Likewise, the same thing can be said for Americans living with residency permits in Germany (and there are a lot of ex-military as such). I have one of these residency permits (with work rights), so I can vote via absentee ballot, draw social security, etc.
The only thing that matters to the governments of the U.S. and Germany is that taxes are properly paid according to the rediculous tax structures of both countries. These tax codes are ambiguous, complicated and ever-changing. Thus, I suspect that some day I will be a criminal in one of these countries and not even know it...oh well.
As for having an EU-based insurance policy (public or private), I'm not too sure that coverage does extend to the United States for reasons of foreign residency. Every German I know living in the U.S. with permanent resident alien status has private insurance with an American or Canadian company. And though I can't speak to how insurance is handled in most other EU nations, I can tell you that not everyone has public health insurance in Germany. In fact, I would say that most people who are of upper middle class stature or higher have private insurance; when the U.S. eventually adopts a nationwide insurance plan, I think this is how it will be (ie, everyone will be covered in some manner, but those that can afford higher quality health care will opt for it with private policies, perhaps cofunded by their employer).
BTW: The EU is a huge conglomerate of disimilar peoples; Making generalities about citizens of the EU are about as accurate as say...lumping the U.S., Canada and Mexico together when making a point. A "Euro Thing" is nondescript...
I don't think so, Al. The majority of people in prison aren't there becasue they committed a capital offense. Countries without the death penalty have less of their population incarcerated, and most have lower crime rates than we do.
As for people liking prison and wanting to be there, I doubt you'd find many that would prefer prison ro freedom.
I do agree that the legal system needs work.
Well, even if its 10%..that would be 10% less if they got the death penalty. And there is no point in comparing us with countries that don't have a death penalty. Because as a practical matter only 1 out of 1000 homicides here result in death for the killer. So we really don't have a death penalty per se.
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