Octopus Overlords

A nonny mouse wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 2:37 pm

hepcat wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 1:35 pm Yeeeesssss.... ?

I can hear that picture.

I got pulled again. I have to call in on the 2nd to see if I have to show up. And of course it's criminal court down in Maywood. Lovely neighborhood...

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 9:06 am

Holman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:20 pm "mean-spirited corporate lawyers."

Hey! We have feelings, you know.

(Sure, they're mostly feelings about taking advantage of the average person, but they're feelings nonetheless.)

I can't remember where I heard it, but someone I know recently described lawyers as "attack librarians."

Holman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:22 pm I can't remember where I heard it, but someone I know recently described lawyers as "attack librarians."

Like they do their own research...

RunningMn9 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 9:41 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 18, 2024 6:28 pmMy wife was on a grand jury that met every Thursday and Friday for a year and a half.

At what level? State and Federal are significantly more involved than what I had to do.

This was State.

The original term was for one year, but the jury actually voted to extend their sitting for an additional six months. Apparently they were having too much fun. (My wife voted against this. She was proud to serve, but it was very hard on her job.)

I was excused. In fact, since I was juror 03 they processed me pretty quickly. It was a murder trial -- alleged drunk driver ran over a wheelchair in a crosswalk -- that was expected to go until April 1, so I'm particularly glad that they didn't want me. The prosecutor didn't like my answers about police testimony, since it was central to his case.

The wheelchair can always sue in civil court.

Isgrimnur wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:23 pm

Holman wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 5:22 pm I can't remember where I heard it, but someone I know recently described lawyers as "attack librarians."

Like they do their own research...

That article makes me feel like I'm having a stroke.

actual quote wrote:WHILE LAWIERS AND LIBARIANS May LIKE LIKE VERY DIRDErent Professions at FIRST GLANE, They Do Share Some Important Simorities. Both Professions Deal With Large AMounts of Written Matterial, Whether It Be Legal Cods and Cases for Laweys, or Books and Research Pars for Librarys. BOTH PROSPECTION REQUIRE A GREAT DALL of knowledge and expertise in their respective fields, and both professions Require Strong Research and Analytic Skills.

[sic]

Oh, I came away convinced it was either AI generated or from an offshore content generation farm.

Legal Cods

That's mostly just Fridays during Lent.

ImLawBoy wrote: ↑Fri Mar 22, 2024 9:17 am

Legal Cods

That's mostly just Fridays during Lent.

I've been called 3 times in my life that i can remember.
Onpy once gave I made it to the courthouse (and made it to lunch yntil i was dismissed.)
The rest, i was canceled before ever leaving my house.
The thing is, I WANT to do jury duty. Especially now that I have nothing but free time.
I wish there was a way to volunteer for it.

Plan a vacation somewhere exotic and far away and expensive and not refundable.

While I was sitting in the juror holding pen I overheard someone say that Thursdays are the worst day to be summoned, because they're picking juries for major cases to begin the next Monday.

Sure enough, we were eventually marched out of the district courthouse to the superior court across the street, and told that we were being screened for a homicide trial that would last about two weeks.

I got out of it, as I explained, but I thought you'd like to know that you don't want Thursday to be the day you have to appear. Unless you can afford to make a lengthy commitment; I'm sure it would have been fascinating, and I really don't believe that I'm above civic duty. But I only make money when I'm working. There's no such thing as paid time off for the self-employed, and the $50/day stipend after day three was small consolation. I explained to the judge that I could afford the >$1,000 that it would cost me, and I might or might not lose a new client whose job I'd just accepted yesterday, but I would resent the hit to my business and it was up to her to decide if that counted as a hardship.

IDK if that was the argument that got me excused. I'm just glad that I was.

One thing I learned while being called for a Federal jury:

The Eastern District of Pennsylvania encompasses several counties in (as you would guess) eastern PA. Given that size, it's possible to be placed on a jury seated 50 or 75 miles away. I assume that this applies to most Federal Districts, and I imagine that the likelihood is higher for rural residents to be seated farther from home.

On the other hand, if you're seated more than 30 miles from your home address, the per-diem is something like $250/day to cover travel, hotel, and meal expenses. A long trial in the next county could be a real windfall for some people. (The local-service per-diem is $50.)

Also, having been called for both State and Federal jury service, I should note that the Feds have much nicer facilities. Our jury room had a Keurig coffee-maker and infinite granola bars.

If you vote for one of the two main presidential candidates can you still get called up for jury duty?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2024 6:31 pm If you vote for one of the two main presidential candidates can you still get called up for jury duty?

I think I've foubd my main platform.
Vote for me and jury duty will now be a career. Probably start at $20/hour and go from there.

Given that jurors are pulled from voting registration lists, I'd say most of us have voted in presidential elections.

And a professional juror class would be a monumentally bad idea. Juries being a semi-random assortment of ordinary people (your peers) is foundational to justice. Professional jurors would not be your peers.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 12:01 am Given that jurors are pulled from voting registration lists

I think they are supposed to be pulled from voting registrations list. Definitely not always the case. Years ago my grandmother got a jury summons when she wasn't a US citizen so the state of Colorado must have pulled her name from DMV records (she also didn't speak English so that was a pretty easy way to get her excused).