Summoned for Jury Duty [Archive]

Zoom Zoom Boy

11-13-2008, 12:59 PM

Walrus

11-13-2008, 01:01 PM

MSMitch

11-13-2008, 01:04 PM

Sing the following to the lone ranger theme song

guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty

Sorry your honor, what was the question? :)

bunchi

11-13-2008, 01:05 PM

Turn-up the seat warmer before you go into the meeting...
and nope, you're never going to live that one down...http://img2.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/fighting/fighting0024.gif (http://www.mysmiley.net)

lol is it friday yet???? the seat warmer topic is back lol you have good memory :chuckle

bunchi

11-13-2008, 01:08 PM

http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Out-of-Jury-Duty

Show up and tell them you are racist :chuckle

Do you work? If so, what do you do? If you run your own business, you can plead that being off for days will ruin your business.

I was actually thinking of doing that.. does it work?

Yes I work... IT admin

Sing the following to the lone ranger theme song

guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty guilty

Sorry your honor, what was the question? :)

mwehehehe I guess it's one of those times where it helps to make a fool of yourself... i did that once here... didn't help... because Zoom Zoom boy remembered lol

Go_Habs_Go

11-13-2008, 01:44 PM

jury duty...ugh!!

Part of what makes our justice system 'work' is counting on people to go and be part of an impartial jury but who the heck wants to sit through hours and hours of what is generally pretty boring stuff! I don't think most court room proceedings in real life are anything like what happens on Law & Order shows!

Ah who knows, maybe you will meet a hot co-juror while you are there LOL

Cardinal Fang

11-13-2008, 02:01 PM

I don't think most court room proceedings in real life are anything like what happens on Law & Order shows!

You got that right. Home many Crown Attorney's do you know that look like this:

http://i33.tinypic.com/14brg9d.jpg

Go_Habs_Go

11-13-2008, 02:04 PM

Hubba hubba!!

bunchi

11-13-2008, 02:05 PM

You got that right. Home many Crown Attorney's do you know that look like this:

http://i33.tinypic.com/14brg9d.jpg

is she one? hehehe

Flagrum_3

11-13-2008, 02:16 PM

I was actually thinking of doing that.. does it work?

Yes I work... IT admin

mwehehehe I guess it's one of those times where it helps to make a fool of yourself... i did that once here... didn't help... because Zoom Zoom boy remembered lol

Might work if you even get a chance!!....I was summmoned and sat for 5 days in a waitng room with what seemed like hundreds of other potential jurors and never got called in for an interview LOL.Luckily my company at the time paid me full wages so I didn't loose any pay! :)
Met some nice people also :)

_3

bunchi

11-13-2008, 03:24 PM

damn so there's a chance I'm in there and no doing anything at all???

Thrizzl3

11-13-2008, 03:27 PM

im taking police foundations and one of the courses deals with the justice system..just for knowledge whats jury duty?

Walrus

11-13-2008, 03:29 PM

You are taking police foundations, and you don't know what jury duty is?

dentinger

11-13-2008, 03:31 PM

what happens if you just dont show up?

Thrizzl3

11-13-2008, 03:31 PM

they haven't gotten to that point yet or they are too lazy to teach it..i dunno thats why im asking

Noisy Crow

11-13-2008, 03:43 PM

I've been summoned for jury duty... how do I get out from it??? :bang Anybody here summoned for Nov 17th at the Newmarket court house? maybe a mini-meet :chuckle

If anybody here has some effective tips, I would really appreciate it... I don't want to stay there the whole day, or even days!!

Okay, here is how it works.

You show up whatever day you are called.

If there are no cases for which they are selecting juries, they tell you to go away, you've done your duty, and you won't get called for 5 years or whatever the interval is

If they are picking juries, they explain the process to everyone, and explain what the case is about. They they then weed out people who believe they cannot serve (medical reasons, conflict of interest, etc.). Once that is done they will pull a bunch of people from the whole group. I've seen it done by just keeping the the entire group sitting around, and I've seen it done by picking 3-4 groups of 100 and sending everyone else home... telling them to wait for a phone call. In either case the prospective jurors are questioned one-by-one by the judge, then the lawyers. If the judge or lawyers do not like you, they send you home. Once they have found 12 (or 14 if they select alternates) acceptable people, they send the rest home.

Yeah, been there, done that.

Wild Weasel

11-13-2008, 04:00 PM

I've never been. That being the case, I'd love to get summoned and see how the whole process works.

Of course, it would probably suck and I'd likely want to never do it again... but hey... I'm game for giving it a shot, so long as it's not more than a couple days.

I'd hate to get suckered into some months long major trial or something.

Broli

11-13-2008, 04:09 PM

i have be summonsed many times (3), i have never served on a jury,

i have been a full time student each time and that (with proof) was a sufficent reason to be excused, as it is not acceptable to ask someone to miss school for this. If i wasn't in school, i would happily sit there, sure it is a boring week, but such is life!

this is everyones duty, if you have the ability to do this, you should!

Go_Habs_Go

11-13-2008, 05:40 PM

this is everyones duty, if you have the ability to do this, you should!

hear, hear!! nice to see people with civic responsibility :)

dentinger

11-13-2008, 06:23 PM

holy shit.

broli's alive!

bhrm

11-13-2008, 06:42 PM

You are taking police foundations, and you don't know what jury duty is?

Does it worry you?

i heard of one who couldn't spell Constapple.

KenYork

11-13-2008, 06:52 PM

Okay, here is how it works.

You show up whatever day you are called.

If there are no cases for which they are selecting juries, they tell you to go away, you've done your duty, and you won't get called for 5 years or whatever the interval is

If they are picking juries, they explain the process to everyone, and explain what the case is about. They they then weed out people who believe they cannot serve (medical reasons, conflict of interest, etc.). Once that is done they will pull a bunch of people from the whole group. I've seen it done by just keeping the the entire group sitting around, and I've seen it done by picking 3-4 groups of 100 and sending everyone else home... telling them to wait for a phone call. In either case the prospective jurors are questioned one-by-one by the judge, then the lawyers. If the judge or lawyers do not like you, they send you home. Once they have found 12 (or 14 if they select alternates) acceptable people, they send the rest home.

Yeah, been there, done that.

Pretty much, but it's not 5 years. It's two, you are obligated to serve the 5 days for selection. You still may get summoned back within the two years, but keep your summons paper caus if you get called back within the two just show it to them before you have to report to get out.

I've been summoned twice thus far and being on one jury. To get out you have to make the excuse that you need a excuse stating there are factors jepordizing your life (can't live without being paid, expecting baby, someone close in hospital and can't keep mind on trial... and you have to prove it). Basically such that you won't keep focused on the trial. Some medical reasons will help too(feel the need to goto the bathroom often??). The racist point works too, as well as religious views.

The selection to a panel is all by chance and not by any order... so you may never get a summons all your life or may get one every year but must appear every two years.

bunchi

11-13-2008, 08:19 PM

what happens if you just dont show up?

oh they'll track you down, make you pay for a fine, or even throw you behind bars... that's what i heard...

bunchi

11-13-2008, 08:23 PM

this is everyones duty, if you have the ability to do this, you should!

my only problem with this is i have to use my vacation hours or else i'm not paid at work. if i'm getting paid, why not? it's a chance for you to help put someone who is a danger to our community behind bars :chuckle guilty!!!!!

bhrm

11-13-2008, 08:54 PM

my only problem with this is i have to use my vacation hours or else i'm not paid at work. if i'm getting paid, why not? it's a chance for you to help put someone who is a danger to our community behind bars :chuckle guilty!!!!!

exactly!

what if YOU were the only person in the jury who has common sense!!!

i honestly think the OP should participate. its a civic duty just like voting.

if people don't care anymore, then lets leave law and justice to superheroes.

Noisy Crow

11-13-2008, 09:26 PM

bhrm

11-13-2008, 11:01 PM

Your company makes you use vacation days? Ow!

that's not legit....i'll check my books when i get back to work.

Zoom Zoom Boy

11-13-2008, 11:06 PM

that's not legit....i'll check my books when i get back to work.

It's illegal. They have to pay you if you are called for jury duty and you do not have to use vacation days.

bunchi

11-13-2008, 11:13 PM

It's illegal. They have to pay you if you are called for jury duty and you do not have to use vacation days.

hmm then I have something to talk about somebody tomorrow! :flaming do you have anything that says it's illegal for them to make me use vacation days or not pay me when on jury duty?

This what I have read:

3. Does my employer have to pay me during jury duty?

The law does not require employers to pay your salary during jury duty, but some employers have an arrangement to pay your salary. You should speak with your employer to determine the arrangements at your place of employment.

damn if I'm not getting paid then I have no choice but to use vacation days???

Zoom Zoom Boy

11-13-2008, 11:19 PM

hmm then I have something to talk about somebody tomorrow! :flaming do you have anything that says it's illegal for them to make me use vacation days or not pay me when on jury duty?

This what I have read:

3. Does my employer have to pay me during jury duty?

The law does not require employers to pay your salary during jury duty, but some employers have an arrangement to pay your salary. You should speak with your employer to determine the arrangements at your place of employment.

damn if I'm not getting paid then I have no choice but to use vacation days???

Bunchi,

Let me look. I could be wrong, but I thought it was mandatory for the employer to pay you if called for jury duty since it is a mandatory civic duty. If not, then you have your way out right there. Tell them, you don't get paid and cannot afford it... Let me look to see what the legislation says. Be back in a few minutes...

Zoom Zoom Boy

11-13-2008, 11:25 PM

You're right, I'm wrong... Wow, that was an eye-opener. :whoa
Can't believe they don't make employers pay you...If you look at item#2 below, it does say employers need to allow you time off for jury duty, but what it doesn't actually say is whether you have to book vacation time for this, or whether employers need to give you the time off and in your case, time off without pay. If so, that would mean you don't have to book vacation days for this. I'd check that out...

From the site:
Will I get paid?
1. Do I get a travel allowance and a fee for jury duty?
A travel expense allowance is paid to panel members who live more than 40 kilometres from the court.
Once you are selected from the panel to serve on a particular trial, you will receive a travel expense allowance for each and every day of trial if you live outside the city/town in which the court is located. Jurors who live in the same city/town as the court are not entitled to this travel allowance.
Also, if you are required to attend for more than 10 days, you will begin to receive a daily fee starting on the 11th day, regardless of where you live. From days 11-49, the fee is $40.00/day and, in the rare occasions where you may be required to serve for 50 days or more, this increases to $100.00/day.

2. What do I do about my job?
Employers are required by law to allow employees time off for jury duty. If your absence would cause serious hardship to your employer, please contact the court office.

3. Does my employer have to pay me during jury duty?
The law does not require employers to pay your salary during jury duty, but some employers have an arrangement to pay your salary. You should speak with your employer to determine the arrangements at your place of employment.

bunchi

11-13-2008, 11:31 PM

see we learn something new everyday :chuckle dude thanks for looking it up :) when interviewed, that's probably the first thing I'm telling them. I can't afford it. but let me talk to my boss, I've been asking them about company policies about employees called for jury duty, but never really got a straight answer.

The article you quoted is actually enclosed with the summons letter I got. That's why I got all worried. Employers are not required to pay you, but are required by law to allow you to go perform your civic duty.

oh.. and I just checked my voicemail at home... the court called this afternoon, they cancelled but moved the date a week later.

Zoom Zoom Boy

11-13-2008, 11:35 PM

Bunchi,

I found this link very quickly for you. It seems that your employer is supposed to give you a leave of abscence to attend jury duty. The leave of abscence can be paid or non-paid, but you do not need to book vacation days to attend. If you use vacation days, obviously you will get paid, if you don't and your employer doesn't pay for jury duty, then sounds like you are screwed my friend...

http://www.hooeyremus.com/Guide_(Jury).htm

No Effect on Employment Status

Many prospective jurors are concerned about the impact of the jury duty on their employment, particularly when the trial is expected to be lengthy. Ontario law prohibits firing or imposing any sanction on an employee who attends for jury duty. An employer is required to give a leave of absence with or without pay to any person called for jury duty. Many collective agreements provide for full salary maintenance during the period of jury duty. Some employers also have a policy of paying their employees for this period of time in return for the modest honorarium given to jurors by law. While the law ensures that no employee will be fired for attending to jury duty, at the present time for many employees, the financial burden of pay loss falls on the employee.

An employee is entitled to his or her job back or a comparable position upon completion of jury duty.

Many employers are concerned about the impact of losing a key employee for an extended period of time. Limited relief is available for employers in serious cases of true hardship, as described above.

For the independent business person, the consequences may also be very serious, particularly since no insurance is available to replace the income lost during the jury duty period.

At the present time, regulations under the Administration of Justice Act provide that a juror who attends a sitting of the Superior Court of Justice shall be paid a fee of $40 for each day of service after the tenth day of service up to and including the forty-ninth day of service and $100 for each day of service after the forty-ninth day of service. There is no payment for the first ten days of service.

bunchi

11-13-2008, 11:45 PM

lol I just got you really busy didn't I?

Well since I didn't get a straight answer when I asked my boss the question, I assumed that I'm not getting paid, hence me saying I have to use vacation - because I want to get paid.

and hopefully this won't happen to me - the $40 per day applies after the 10th day of service. they can screw me for 10 days, and screw me less after that with the $40 per day.. wtf $40??? it's not even enough to pay for a buffet for 2... oh well, thanks again... time to warm up the seats! shyet

bunchi

11-13-2008, 11:59 PM

Your company makes you use vacation days? Ow!

Well I hope not, I'm still going to talk to them about their policies. if they don't want to pay me then I'll have to use vacation days no choice. I'd rather spend the money on mods than not getting anything at all :chuckle

exactly!

what if YOU were the only person in the jury who has common sense!!!

i honestly think the OP should participate. its a civic duty just like voting.

if people don't care anymore, then lets leave law and justice to superheroes.

just the thought of not getting paid already throws my common sense out of whack. mind you, as it states, jury duty is a duty... voting is a right... they don't force you to vote, but they require you to do jury duty when summoned.

Ok my first mistake was filling up the first form I got from office of the attorney general, told me to write down my occupation etc etc and that not returning that mail would incur a fine of a couple G's and imprisonment etc etc thinking about it now, I can easily tell them I didn't get that mail. they will have no proof that I got it or not, it's not a registered mail and I didn't sign for anything. I guess this is a little too late for me now, so I guess this is for all you who didn't get anything from the AG or hsven't been summoned yet.

Noisy Crow

11-14-2008, 09:17 AM

Well I hope not, I'm still going to talk to them about their policies. if they don't want to pay me then I'll have to use vacation days no choice. I'd rather spend the money on mods than not getting anything at all

Are you salaried or hourly? Do you have an HR dept? (if you do, ask them about the pay issue, not your boss).

BTW, you can probably plead hardship... you have a new little kid that needs to be fed, mom needs your help....

But as much as it is a PITA being on a jury it is definitely an educational experience. Other than voting it is one of the few chances people get to directly participate in the running of our society.

Iceman_F1

11-14-2008, 09:40 AM

There was someone in my company that had to do jury duty just recently. Sucked for him too cause he's a really busy person during the day and had to try to do some work during the breaks. What sucked even worse is that throughout the whole process of the verdict, there was 1 of the 12 that no matter WHAT was said or logic used, they always voted the "not guilty" even when the evidence was pointing towards "guilty"...eventually, the judge told them that unless it was a 100% verdict, he wouldn't call it or something and they had to reschedule with a whole new jury. Complete waste of his time...

but that's not to say all will be like that...

On a somewhat different note, what kind of IT do you do? I'm part of IT in my place...small company so I do programming, support...basically, anything broken with electronics, I have to fix or try to fix lol

bunchi

11-14-2008, 09:42 AM

Are you salaried or hourly? Do you have an HR dept? (if you do, ask them about the pay issue, not your boss).

BTW, you can probably plead hardship... you have a new little kid that needs to be fed, mom needs your help....

But as much as it is a PITA being on a jury it is definitely an educational experience. Other than voting it is one of the few chances people get to directly participate in the running of our society.

i'm salaried.. and just found out jury duty is not covered as paid leave. we HAD an HR, but now it's everything goes :chuckle so the boss is the one I talk to. I report to him anyways. I'll probably plead hardship... which is true with no exxagerations, other choice is to be a prick in there. Like I said, I have no problem helping out in the community as long as it does not give me too much of a hard time as a result.

bunchi

11-14-2008, 09:45 AM

On a somewhat different note, what kind of IT do you do? I'm part of IT in my place...small company so I do programming, support...basically, anything broken with electronics, I have to fix or try to fix lol

i think we do the same thing :chuckle I'm the network admin, sys admin, support, i make reports, the do a bit of programming, anything broken and plugged in they call me lol it's a company of around 100+ people around 70 workstations

so you see, i'm pretty busy... and I can't waste any time,.

Iceman_F1

11-14-2008, 09:51 AM

i think we do the same thing :chuckle I'm the network admin, sys admin, support, i make reports, the do a bit of programming, anything broken and plugged in they call me lol it's a company of around 100+ people around 70 workstations

so you see, i'm pretty busy... and I can't waste any time,.

LOL...That really sounds similar to my place...I think we have like 50 work stations...but yeah...anything plugged in, I get called. Except I'm the junior IT guy...though my boss is currently pretty busy, I still have someone I can get to help out...though I'm the one that handles most of the jobs as they are minor...

But my place deals with manufacturing kitchens...so anything I do relates to that...so we have one guy that goes out to new buildings and measures them...so I had to write a whole program that is basically MS Paint so he can draw out the kitchens...but at the same time, can access the internet through a wireless internet card to be able to sync to our servers to upload finished drawings and to see specs/colours/styles for what he has to draw...

So very annoying that was...and right now, we're in the process of switching to a more efficent tracking system...so I have to learn that shortly and do some testing before the new year...so yeah, I'd say if I ever were to get called for jury duty, it'd be pretty tough with how busy I can get...

bunchi

11-21-2008, 09:41 AM

ok... my orig. sched for this was nov. 17th. the judge cancelled and moved it to Nov. 24th. And the judhge cancelled again! I just found out now that even if the judge cancels, it is still considered an attendance for you. So since they cancelled twice, it still counted as me going there twice, and now, I have been told that I have completed my jury duty and don't have to go there anymore. yay!

-RJ3-

11-22-2008, 01:04 PM

I dont think your in jury duty just yet. I received a letter about qualifying to ge into jury duty. This was last month and i havent received a notice since. Its more of a formality at first.

Flagrum_3

11-22-2008, 01:57 PM

I dont think your in jury duty just yet. I received a letter about qualifying to ge into jury duty. This was last month and i havent received a notice since. Its more of a formality at first.

Haha, Don't worry they'll call you in, at the worst possible time too, that's what happen to me after I received my first letter LOL.

_3

-RJ3-

11-22-2008, 04:54 PM

Thats what i was afraid of lol

Flagrum_3

11-22-2008, 05:26 PM

Thats what i was afraid of lol

Hey it's Murphy's Law, not mine! :chuckle

_3

bunchi

11-25-2008, 11:35 PM

yeah I got the letter to go to the courthouse months after I received the first letter that you're supposed to mail back. And according to the voicemail from the girl from the court, it is already my jury duty and it is complete - even though i didn't go for even once. once you're summoned, you're already doing your duty when you go there and sit around in the jury pool, or even if they cancel. in my case, both sessions cancelled. and i'm not complaining :chuckle don't worry, you'll be called hehe it's just the question of when... and like _3 said, you'll get called in the worse time. me I got called when my wife was still in the hospital recovering from childbirth. they could have called me months before or after but no, they called me during that time.

it just occured to me what would happen if you don't send the first letter back to them. i think it's basically telling them you're there and ready to be called. since the first letter was just a regular mail and not a registered mail, could you have the excuse that you didn't get the letter? you didn't sign for anything so there's no proof that you really got the mail. unless they send it again through registered mail. once you send that first letter back - now completed by you with all your info - you're in for it and they have their leash on your neck now.