4 ms·

> a bunch of idiots who couldn't get out of jury duty Maybe they are not idiots, just regular folks who take their civic duty seriously.

• caymanjim 5y ago
  Yeah, that was too dismissive. I do think there's a problem with juries in that the pool of people is narrowed to those who both want to and are able to serve. Some jobs will pay employees who have jury duty, but many will not. Some people have backup caregivers for their dependents, but many don't. I'm not interested enough to look for statistics on it, but I would be surprised if juries aren't primarily composed of a narrow subset of social classes, like upper middle class professionals, retired people, the childless, and the unemployed, or some similar categories. It should be hard to get out of serving and jurors should be compensated in a way that eliminates the financial burden without becoming an incentive in itself.
  • ipaddr 5y ago
    Do you really want to force people to make a decision? They will try to end the case as soon as possible correct outcome or not.
• ipaddr 5y ago
  From my experience some people just want to convict and are happy to have the power to punish. Most want to get out of there. You might get someone trying to find anything not to convict. What you end up with is some people happy to not work, others eager to close the case because they are not getting paid. Personal feelings decide outcomes. I know this person is not guilty but this guy who loves the free lunches won't ever change his mind and I am worried about my mortgage.
• pessimizer 5y ago
  Just regular retired folks and folks with government jobs that pay folks who are on jury duty.