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curatedaccount t1_iurehzq wrote

I should tell you that a functionling legal system is so fundamentally important to the survival of our country that you should be willing to make the sacrifice to do your part.

I should tell you that if everyone with something better to do got themselves out of Jury Duty that it would make the entire system untenable and fill juries with the least capable people.

But we both know there are so many asterisks and caveats next to those statements that they're meaningless.

The legal system is clearly broken and the jury system is a failure, don't waste your time and effort trying to help it limp along.
There are a hundred surefire ways to get out of jury duty with no negative consequences, you should take advantage of them.

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Jazzlike_Breadfruit9 OP t1_iurexm8 wrote

It’s one thing for me to do my part. It is another to ask me to do my part, but not be able to afford groceries for the month.

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IamSauerKraut t1_iurhrc6 wrote

>It is another to ask me to do my part, but not be able to afford groceries for the month.

Absolute cogent point. Too bad it goes over the head of the self-aggrandizing, do-nothing PA Legislature.

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Critical_Band5649 t1_iurk8mj wrote

Hey they are super busy passing mail in ballot laws and trying to prove their mail in ballot laws were unconstitutional.

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tukekairo t1_iurkv7q wrote

Use the per diems the legislature get to set the pay

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Wuz314159 t1_iurh9sk wrote

>you should be willing to make the sacrifice to do your part.

Even if that sacrifice means becoming homeless because you can no longer pay your bills? I'm one bad month away from that right now.

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KFCConspiracy t1_iurr6ty wrote

I understand what you're getting at, and I think I agree with you based on that last statements about asterisks, etc.

> I should tell you that a functionling legal system is so fundamentally important to the survival of our country that you should be willing to make the sacrifice to do your part.

Unfortunately, there's a big disparity in privilege in this country. Personally, my workplace will pay me in full if I'm on a jury, so it's no skin off my back. Plus, I make enough that not being paid for a week would be inconvenient, but wouldn't really change my life significantly (Although a week's pay for me would be a significant "donation" to the legal system). But that's not an obligation for most workplaces, and most people aren't in my situation financially.

Even paying jurors minimum wage 8 hours/day * 7.25 would be a significant raise. But still wouldn't be sufficient for a lot of people to appear. Which of course, speaks to the big asterisk around why people don't want to appear.

> I should tell you that if everyone with something better to do got themselves out of Jury Duty that it would make the entire system untenable and fill juries with the least capable people.

Having served on a jury, I can tell you first hand, this is already going on. We were hearing a child sex trafficking case, and one of the (male) jurors tried to argue that the victim (15 at the time) might have wanted to be a prostitute.

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