Jury Duty

  Dennis Hackethal revised criticism #3308.

Force means you get a bunch of people on a jury who don’t want to be there. This either introduces friction because they will drag their feet, or they will just vote for whatever outcome will get them out of there the fastest, which isn’t necessarily justice. For example (emphasis added):

[A] guy said to use the opportunity to fight back against laws you don't agree with. I thought about doing that even though we were asked if we could put personal feelings aside and enforce the law and I didn't want to be the one to say I couldn't so I stayed quiet. Then I thought, “What if I'm the only juror who thinks the law is unjust”? “Do I really want to drag this out just to fight the system”? I decided to make my decision based solely on whatever would get this over with the quickest. In this particular case a guy was charged with crimes that I don't think should be crimes anyway. Since I know the majority of people in my community feel the opposite, I chose to keep my opinion to myself for fear of ridicule of people knowing my feelings.

Force means you get a bunch of people on a jury who don’t want to be there. This either introduces friction because they will drag their feet, or they will just vote for whatever outcome will get them out of there the fastest, which isn’t necessarily justice. For example (emphasis added):

[A] guy said to use the opportunity to fight back against laws you don't agree with. I thought about doing that even though we were asked if we could put personal feelings aside and enforce the law and I didn't want to be the one to say I couldn't so I stayed quiet. Then I thought, “What if I'm the only juror who thinks the law is unjust”? “Do I really want to drag this out just to fight the system”? I decided to make my decision based solely on whatever would get this over with the quickest. In this particular case a guy was charged with crimes that I don't think should be crimes anyway. Since I know the majority of people in my community feel the opposite, I chose to keep my opinion to myself for fear of ridicule of people knowing my feelings.

… I'm supposed to report for jury duty tomorrow. I hope it gets cancelled or I'm not chosen but if not, I'll [do] whatever I have to to get out of there the fastest.

  Dennis Hackethal submitted criticism #3310.

Force means you get people who don’t care about justice. For example (emphasis added):

Another issue that makes me a bad juror is I simply don't care. Unless someone does something to me or someone I care about, I don't care. If someone had done something to me or mine then I couldn't be a juror for that trial anyway. If John Smith steals Jane Doe's car, I don't care. Even if John Smith kills Jane Doe's [sic], I don't care. I think killing someone is wrong but if it doesn't effect [sic] me personally I don't care what punishment they get. If that makes me a bad person, so be it.

  Dennis Hackethal revised criticism #3307.

Force means you get a bunch of people on a jury who don’t want to be there. This introduces friction because they will drag their feet.

Force means you get a bunch of people on a jury who don’t want to be there. This either introduces friction because they will drag their feet, or they will just vote for whatever outcome will get them out of there the fastest, which isn’t necessarily justice. For example (emphasis added):

[A] guy said to use the opportunity to fight back against laws you don't agree with. I thought about doing that even though we were asked if we could put personal feelings aside and enforce the law and I didn't want to be the one to say I couldn't so I stayed quiet. Then I thought, “What if I'm the only juror who thinks the law is unjust”? “Do I really want to drag this out just to fight the system”? I decided to make my decision based solely on whatever would get this over with the quickest. In this particular case a guy was charged with crimes that I don't think should be crimes anyway. Since I know the majority of people in my community feel the opposite, I chose to keep my opinion to myself for fear of ridicule of people knowing my feelings.

  Dennis Hackethal submitted criticism #3307.

Force means you get a bunch of people on a jury who don’t want to be there. This introduces friction because they will drag their feet.

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3305.

“The random selection helps keep all citizens equal.” (Source)

#3305·Dennis HackethalOP, about 21 hours ago

I understand that you don’t want to introduce bias, but it just doesn’t follow that jurors have to be selected by force. You can make it voluntary without introducing bias.

  Dennis Hackethal submitted idea #3305.

“The random selection helps keep all citizens equal.” (Source)

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3303.

“If we make it a profession, we'll still have elites judging commoners and commoners unable to get justice.” (Source)

#3303·Dennis HackethalOP, about 21 hours ago

Why would it automatically be an elite profession? Just adjust your selection process accordingly.

  Dennis Hackethal submitted idea #3303.

“If we make it a profession, we'll still have elites judging commoners and commoners unable to get justice.” (Source)

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3301.

“If we only take volunteers, we'll be perpetually lacking jurors or we'll have jurors that don't represent the general populace.” (Source)

#3301·Dennis HackethalOP, about 21 hours ago

No, again (#3300), if you make it worth their while, plenty of people will show up voluntarily.

  Dennis Hackethal submitted idea #3301.

“If we only take volunteers, we'll be perpetually lacking jurors or we'll have jurors that don't represent the general populace.” (Source)

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3299.

We need jury duty because without it, “we can't guarantee the accused their right to trial by a jury of their peers if we don't have peers available to serve on juries.”

#3299·Dennis HackethalOP, about 21 hours ago

If you make it worth their while, you will have plenty of people signing up voluntarily.

  Dennis Hackethal submitted idea #3299.

We need jury duty because without it, “we can't guarantee the accused their right to trial by a jury of their peers if we don't have peers available to serve on juries.”

  Dennis Hackethal submitted criticism #3298.

A duty is an unchosen obligation. It’s an expression of mysticism. Immanuel Kant is responsible for spreading this anti-concept.

https://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/duty.html

  Dennis Hackethal started a discussion titled ‘Jury Duty’.

@zelalem-mekonnen shared in my Twitter space that he has been ‘summoned’ for jury duty. It seems strange and incompatible with freedom that the courts can just ‘command’ you to perform a service for them.