So after years of throwing away - I mean, not receiving any sort of juror surveys - I finally got this official letter one day that stated I would be arrested and thrown in jail, as well a facing some mega-fine if I didn’t immediately fill out and return a survey to be entered into the pool of prospective jurors in NYS.
I seriously thought about throwing that one out too - I mean, not receiving it, but I confess - I chickened out.
Fast forward 4 or 5 months and now I’ve been officially summoned to serve. I must report to the hall of justice Monday in place of going to work. For the lovely waste of my time, I will be entitled to $40 under law.
…Oh boy, a whole $40, mister? Gee golly wiz…
My wife and I sat down last Sunday and made out a budget for the first time in 5 years. We are flat broke till September, when my kid starts going to 1st grade and I won’t need to spend almost $700 a month for day care. My wife and I both work now, and though I don’t make a lot of money at my job, I do make more than $40 a day - which I’m sure they’ll take taxes out of at the end of next year…
I’m also going to RIT at half-time status… 8 credits a quarter, vs full time students which starts at 12 credits.
I simply can’t afford to be on the jury, nor do I have the time.
Oh, and there’s this whole other thing too about our justice system being a total piece of shit. From the bottom of what’s left of my heart, I think a fair impartial trial is deserved by everyone in the world, and concrete evidence should be required to lock someone away… But seriously folks, I have absolutely no faith left in the justice system in this entire country. It’s corrupt from the bottom all the way to the top. It’s political, it’s dependent upon how much money you have, and frankly it’s just a facade for this country called America mascaraing as a true democracy.
How many people in the US - save, the world, do you think automatically make up their minds that someone is guilty the moment they’re placed under arrest? You think with a mind set like that there is much chance for a fair trial? It’s just a game of two lawyers who make more money than God, masturbating each other’s bloated egos - if the glove don’t fit you’re still full of shit. I for one do not wish to be thrown into the middle of that situation and have someone’s life in my hands as I help decide their fate.
I have very mixed feelings anyway, cause half the time I blame society for the crimes some people commit… an issue more of the economics and family situation - or rather the lack there of. However, other people are just plain guilty, and some of them are just plain evil and I’d shoot them myself if I wouldn’t go to jail for it. Rapists, child molesters, criminals who kill in cold blood, fat cat Enron type guys, the list goes on…
I’m contemplating trying anything I can think of to get out of jury duty. Saying I’m a Nazi or a racist, or even going so far as to paraphrase everything I wrote above.
There are some people, like my wife, who want to be on the jury… she was so disappointed that when she was summoned last year they never called her number to report. Why don’t they try to find people like that?
Just like everything else that’s wrong with this country, this is a perfect example of letting the government control us.
State: “You will serve on the jury or go to jail.”
Me: “But I’m really busy, and I really can’t afford to miss work… Plus I might be late for class or fall behind on my school work.”
State: “We don’t care about you or your problems… Now do what we say, and remember to thank God you’re an American… You do believe in God, right…”
Me: “Well… I… um…. It’s sort of more complicated then…”
State: “Off with his head!”
