Can You Afford Jury Duty?
Well, I just got home from the Courthouse… No, I didn’t go to jail… I got that little piece of paper in the mail that said, “Congratulations!! You Are Summoned For Jury Duty.”
Happily I went as the foundation of our country and the equal application of its laws are dependent on those people sitting in the jury box.
A lot of people though find it a financial hardship… and I can see why… many employers don’t pay your wages while serving (they should!) and the vast sum of $15 the court systems pays really only covers the cost of lunch in the overpriced courthouse cafeteria.
Should they pay more?
Loss of one day’s pay makes little difference to most people but could be devastating to some living paycheck to paycheck let alone if empaneled for a multi-day trial.
Honestly, I think by imposing such a hardship that the courts should reimburse at least at a minimum wage rate for those who otherwise can’t afford the “day off.”
They ask so many other questions that seem “nosy” (including who you work for). Asking to see a pay stub for verification that you don’t get paid much isn’t unduly so.
Yes the system is tax funded… but serving shouldn’t be limited to just those who are “well to do” and I would prefer the broadest possible cross section of citizens available to judge me if I was the one in the defendant’s box.
This is probably one of the very few times I would be willing to pony up a little more in taxes.
As a postscript I ended up spending most of the day with 39 other potential jurors, of many ethnic backgrounds but seemingly all in the middle age, middle class range with some students thrown in, being grilled by the judge and the lawyers before they picked the seven they needed… I wasn’t one of them…. but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
So are you “civic minded” enough to do your duty despite maybe losing a day’s pay?
Do you think we should pay the equivalent of minimum wage even if it makes the system cost more if it would broaden the potential pool of jurors?
Do you have every intent of doing everything possible to get out of it if called?
Photo credit: stock.xchng.
Fortunately my employeer pays our wagest while we’re at jury duty. We have to turn in the summons, put the time on our calendar (following the same leave rules as any other leave), and turn in a document post serving. It’s lucky because I’ve been called 5 times since working here (10.5 years). The first time, I went and served for one afternoon and was done. The second time, I was “on-call” and never had to go but just had to call in every Friday. The third time, same thing. The fourth time I took the automatic exemption we are granted (I work for a legislative agency). And the fifth time will be when I report for Jury duty in two weeks. It could last as long as 2 weeks but hopefully won’t. But it’s a huge relief that I will get paid regardless and I feel bad for people who lose their wages from serving.
In July I was on a murder trial jury for 2 weeks. Arizona compensates people pretty well if they are on a long term jury. But you have to be self employed or unemployed to get more than the standard $12 a day.
Florida’s system uses Drivers Licenses instead of Voter Registrations to pick Jurors.
Since they started it the term of service is one day or, should you be picked for service, the length of one trial.
Back when it was only registered voters you spent 3 days when called.
They reimburse $15 a day for the first 3 then $30 a day for 4 or more. And they at least don’t make you pay for parking in the garage like everyone else.
The only thing I don’t care for is they send out a large number of summons and you have to call the night before to an automated line that will tell you the range of numbers that have to report…everyone else doesn’t have to.
So its hard to plan with your employer for the day off if you don’t know until 10 hours beforehand that you have to go…..this of course does not endear the system to the employers.
I do have to admit the judicial system tries to make it as pleasant as possible.
Besides a large very comfortable room with chairs and couches they have a seperate TV Room, Free Local Phone and WiFi as well as a room full of Free computers (a good 40 of them) so you can play on the internet, Books, Magazines, Board Games, Puzzles, and a room full of vending machines and the State Division of Blind Services sells coffee, danishes, and sandwiches.
In the past, it seemed like I was getting called for jury duty every other year. In most cases, I was either self-employed or working for an employer who didn’t pay for jury duty, and inevitably the lost pay would create havoc with my budget. When I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome a number of years ago, I was absolutely thrilled when I learned my diagnosis would permanently excuse me from jury duty.
What timing: my housemate is serving on a grand jury, and that can go on for months. Today one of his fellow jurors was dismissed because he was working as a temp and therefore wasn’t being reimbursed by an employer, so serving would have been too much of a hardship. So at least here in Massachusetts you can claim hardship.
Also, he said the guy was the only hottie in the entire group, so our justice wasn’t the only one losing out here. 😉
I’ve been called twice, but never selected. Thankfully, I was in a position each time such that I’d have been able to serve, but I know that that’s a rarity. The $15/day really is insulting – if employers aren’t mandated to pay for salaries during jury duty, then the government should cover it. (Many people would still face the possiblity of being let go from their job due to scheduling concerns, but it’d be a stark improvement nonetheless.)
The current system results in the truly skewed juries that we currently have. To be fair, at least where I was in Oakland, there was a fair bit of ethnic and social diversity on the juries. Government workers, including highly paid researchers, students, retired folks & people on public assistance comprised the majority of the workable pool, so while there was a lack of career diversity, that’s less concerning than homogeneity on other axes.
I just had jury duty too and I thought the same thing… your employer and/or the court should pay you a regular’s day pay OR make it non-mandatory to appear.
The whole thing is a bunch of bullcrap.