Jury duty

[edschweppe]

tomorrow.

Fortunately, Massachusetts has a one-day/one-trial system. If I'm picked for a trial jury, that one trial will be the only one I have to serve on for the next three years. If I'm not picked for a jury by the end of the day tomorrow, I won't have to serve on a state jury again for the next three years.

Unfortunately, the powers that be at the Office of the Jury Commissioner have decided in their infinite wisdom to summon me to Malden District Court, which is just about the least convenient courthouse in Middlesex County for me. Not Concord District Court, which is in the next town over. Not Ayer District Court, which is two towns over in the other direction. But Malden, which is pretty much at the other end of Middlesex County. Grumble.

I shouldn't bitch too loudly, of course, considering just how essential juries are to the US system of justice. But still, Malden? (Could be worse; could be snowing tomorrow. Or it could be Federal service, which would be in downtown Boston which is even more of a PITA from where I live.)

(But still. Malden of all places?)

BTW, in the event I do get empaneled, the juror handbook makes it clear that I shouldn't discuss the trial online at all. So I won't.

Comments

[ornoth.livejournal.com]

IIRC, the summons comes with a form you can use to defer service and/or change location. Not that it would help this late in the game, but that's my recollection.

Be thankful you don't live in Suffolk, where you get summonsed predictably every three years.

[edschweppe.livejournal.com]

Defer service, yes; change location, only if the original location is a "hardship" (and inconvenient as hell doesn't count as a hardship).

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like to point out to people that jury duty is much like the complaint about voting, except every member of a jury matters more than any voter.

You get pissed off about X_Case's verdict? Well, if you try to get out of jury duty, you missed your chance to be on that jury, and have a shot at either swinging the verdict *or* understanding it.