HELP! (personal/low content)

[ALawPoker]

BPA and adios,

Thanks for the advice. I probably will get a lawyer [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]. Maybe I'll ask for one for Christmas.

[bobman0330]

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If you went to trial for something you didn't do, and didn't have a jury because no one turned up, and wound up being tried by a judge, how would you feel?

I know that's not going to happen, but if everyone did what he did, thats where we would be.

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If they couldn't impanel a jury, they'd have to let me go. It would be awesome!

[JammyDodga]

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It has nothing to do with going vs. not going. I was legitimately out of state and there was no way I could go. So even if you accept our process and assume it's your duty to attend jury service or whatever, that isn't the issue, because it would have been impossible for me to do that whether I filed the appropriate paper work or not.

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Because the date they summoned me for was during the semester. I realize in your world I should have arranged a different time to SERVE MY DUTY, but in my world this is no duty of mine, and my only mistake was a practical one.

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So you could have gone if you wanted to then? That's not what your earlier posts implied.


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So all you are doing is lecturing in principle on why, according to your axioms, honorable civic duty is necessary. Your criticisms of what I did logically extend to the people who find ways to be lawfully excused, or who are dismissed.

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Absolutely, see my original post.
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On a more direct point, people at college, or with professional jobs etc, seem to find it a lot easier to get out of jury service than others, and if I was on trial, I'd much prefer that the jury be as intelligent and as well educated as possible, so they would be more likely to make the correct decision.

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There's two issues here, the fact you felt under no obligation to attend jury service, and the fact you were a bit daft and didn't fill in the right forms. I don't really care about the second issue.

You keep insisting the morality of jury duty isn't up for discussion, but then carry on about why "in your world" you don't need to "SERVE MY DUTY" and other such snide comments, implying that I'm some kind of state-loving, duty-bound, law-abiding grandpa.

The state you are so opposed to has arrested someone, put them on trial and is about to put them in prison. The jury is one of the vital few checks and balances whereby normal people can restrain the state from its worst excesses. Your moral obligation isn't to the state, its to the poor bastard on trial who may or may not be innocent.

My own experience and that from discussing with others, is that juries are often made up of bigoted morons, and disagreements aside, I think any defendant would appreciate having someone like you on their jury, who is educated, clearly thinks about things and would make the effort to come to the right decision based on the evidence and the law.

There is a small but real possibility that your avoidance of jury duty allowed the state to inflict a miscarriage of justice that you could have helped prevent. This is why it's a moral issue, and why I felt like I needed to make a point.

Finally, if you don't want to discuss the political/moral implications of your post, ring your mom for advice rather than posting on a "politics" discussion forum...

[ALawPoker]

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So you could have gone if you wanted to then? That's not what your earlier posts implied.

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I could have rescheduled to a more convenient time if I wanted to, sure. But there is no way I could have gone to the date I was summoned for, and would not have been guilty of any crime for not going if I had filed the appropriate paper work. (So, the issue here as it relates to criminal penalty is paper work, and not civic responsibility, because -- like it or not -- I did have a lawful excuse.) This really isn't that confusing.

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Finally, if you don't want to discuss the political/moral implications of your post, ring your mom for advice rather than posting on a "politics" discussion forum...

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Or I could include in the title "personal/low content" and make it clear in the OP that I'm not interested in hearing about how I screwed up and am just looking for practical help in how to proceed. It turns out, I got a lot of good help here (because many people here are more knowledgeable than my mom and apparently less self-righteous than you), and I'm glad I posted.

Thank you though for your meandering thoughts on the philosophy of civic responsibility.


Thanks to everyone who offered advice. I'll update this thread if anything exciting happens.

[Taso]

good luck alaw.

[BluffTHIS!]

FRY HIS AZZ!

Oops, er, I mean, good luck Law [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img].

[BigLawMonies]

1. LEGAL CONSULTATION
2. Legal Consultation
3. See above.
4. Stay out of N.Y. State