The Off Topic Topic

[Razgovory]

There must be some safeguard to keep us dangerously unhinged types away from jury duty cause I've never been called.

[Razgovory]

I thought lawyers were exempt?

No one is exempt unless they meet pretty clearly defined criteria:

• 70 years of age or older
  
• Have a permanent mental or physical disability
  
• Are NOT a resident of Fulton County at the time of service
  
• Are NOT a United States citizen
  
• A convicted felon whose rights have not been restored
  
  Lots of people are going to get struck for one reason or other, and lawyers usually rank pretty high on the scale in terms of fear that the lawyer is going to take over your jury.  But we still have to go.
  
  See also:
  
  Justice Kagan reporting for jury duty:
  http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/keith-l-alexander/elena-kagan-reports-for-jury-d.html
  
  Attorney General Eric Holder reporting for jury duty:
  http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/Editorial-Board-Blog/2010/1109/Even-Attorney-General-Eric-Holder-answers-the-call-of-jury-duty
  
  Justice Breyer reporting for jury duty:
  http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=900005541782&Supreme_Court_Justice_Shows_Up_for_Jury_Duty&slreturn=20130125190550
  

Wait, why is living in Fulton county a reason to be exempt?

[Eddie Teach]

I've never been called either, but I think it's cause they usually use voter registration lists.

[Ed Anger]

I think I've got a touch of the flu.

[Josephus]

Jury duty seems really common down there.  I've never known a Canadian who did jury duty.

I actually did get my notice once. But as a student I was able to defer it. That was 25 years ago. haven't been called since. But I have known a few people who have served.

[ulmont]

Wait, why is living in Fulton county a reason to be exempt?

It's not.  NOT living in Fulton county at the time of service is a reason to be exempt from Fulton county jury service, because this is the set of requirements for Fulton county.

I've never been called either, but I think it's cause they usually use voter registration lists.

They also use the driver's license / state ID forms, as they are keen to report all the time to make it clear that not being registered to vote is no escape.

[Eddie Teach]

Sure, but if they use the voter list once and then the driver's license list once, not registering still cuts your chances in half.

[ulmont]

Sure, but if they use the voter list once and then the driver's license list once, not registering still cuts your chances in half.

Assuming they don't bother to de-duplicate, sure.

[Admiral Yi]

Some fun factoids from an Economist article about Scotch whisky.

France is the #1 consumer in the world, drinking twice as much as the US.  Spain drinks more than China.

In the 19th century Irish whisky was considered more posh than Scotch.

[Syt]

[Tamas]

It is rumored that the Hungarian government is working on buying Vodafone's business in Hungary.

WHY. Just.. WHY?!

[Malthus]

I thought lawyers were exempt?

Depends on the jurisdiction. Lawyers are certainly exempt (or rather, "ineligible" meaning they can't serve even if they want to) in Ontario, together with politicos, judges, docs and cops. Even law students are exempt!

From the Juries Act:

3.  (1)  The following persons are ineligible to serve as jurors:

1. Every member of the Privy Council of Canada or the Executive Council of Ontario.

2. Every member of the Senate, the House of Commons of Canada or the Assembly.

3. Every judge and every justice of the peace.

4. Every barrister and solicitor and every student-at-law.

5. Every legally qualified medical practitioner and veterinary surgeon who is actively engaged in practice and every coroner.

6. Every person engaged in the enforcement of law including, without restricting the generality of the foregoing, sheriffs, wardens of any penitentiary, superintendents, jailers or keepers of prisons, correctional institutions or lockups, sheriff's officers, police officers, firefighters who are regularly employed by a fire department for the purposes of subsection 41 (1) of the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, and officers of a court of justice. R.S.O. 1990, c. J.3, s. 3 (1); 1994, c. 27, s. 48 (1); 1997, c. 4, s. 82.

[HVC]

Why doctors?

[Malthus]

Why doctors?

For the same reason as lawyers or cops - fear that their specialized expertise will naturally cause the rest of the jury to defer to them, particularly as so many cases are likely to involve medical or forensic evidence.

[Josquius]

is stagnatory a real word?
a google search suggests no....but sounds like it should be.