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Jury duty

lolololo
edited April 2011
I got summoned. First time. Uh oh. I think I want to slip out of this obligation.

5/5/2011

Comments

  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    edited April 2011

    "Awwww, jury duty?!? I'll see that Quimby kid HANGED for this!"
  • MatthewMatthew
    I got a thing once. I just had to call in the morning and they told me I was done.
  • lolololo
    The more I think about it, the more I want to participate
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    My friend recently went in and they sent him home saying to call the next day about his service possibly being in Gresham, but he called and they didn't need him. Another friend served 3 days on a trial.
  • Clever_girlClever_girl
    edited April 2011
    I was summoned recently, too. I went in on the day requested, and they told us how important we were many many times, and then sent most of us home at noon. Around 100 to 150 people showed up, and I'd say only 30 were actually called to jury selection. Who knows how many actually served on a jury.

    Most of the cases get settled before going to trial, but they need a lot of people there in case they don't.

    They weren't doing any grand juries that day, though. Apparently grand jury duty sucks because it can sometimes last for months.

    There's free wi-fi in the jury duty waiting room, and you can bring a computer or iPhone or whatever. Also, there's a fridge and snack machines, and you get to leave the building for a lunch break if you're there all day.
  • swamp_knobbler_mahanswamp_knobbler_mahan
    I just got summoned for 5/4 or 5/5 as well.
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    My adviser says they call her in and ask her questions and then dismiss her because she's too smart, and they want the easily led.

    you can also tell them you're prejudiced against all races
  • Dr_William_HaywardDr_William_Hayward
    I went but was non-plussed the trial might last 3 weeks. But they didn't want me because I said that I couldn't be impartial in so many words (true) in this weird fraud trial. Very solid judge though, so a useful day's experience.
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    Yeah, that's basically how I was dismissed. I just explained why I felt like I couldn't be impartial. Basically if you are a politically minded person at all and you open your mouth and start talking about your personal views, they get rid of you.

    Also, doesn't non-plussed mean you were "unfazed" by the prospect of having to serve three weeks? Seems like you used it to mean "annoyed". I'm asking for real, because I never feel like I have a grip on this word.
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    Oh, no wonder I'm so confused:

    "In standard use nonplussed means‘ surprised and confused’, as in she was nonplussed at his eagerness to help out. In North American English a new use has developed in recent years, meaning ‘unperturbed’ — more or less the opposite of its traditional meaning — as in he was clearly trying to appear nonplussed. This new use probably arose on the assumption that non- was the normal negative prefix and must therefore have a negative meaning. It is not considered part of standard English"
  • YoursTrulyYoursTruly
    I have known so many people who think of your wrong meaning of nonplussed! The same wrong meaning!

    Gary and I have been talking about words that consistently are felt to mean the same wrong definition. This came up during an argument about the meaning of the word "glib," which is another word everyone thinks means the same thing, but it actually means this other thing.

    What do you think the qualities of these certain words are, that make them felt as other words??

    I think the "non" in "nonplussed" is a real red herring
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    Wow, yeah, my understanding of glib was a little off.
  • Dr_William_HaywardDr_William_Hayward
    Thanks, I have been misusing the non-plussed for a while! UX yeah!

    Since news and culture is increasingly special channelized and diverse, we should expect more divergence from the OED http://www.oed.com/ over time. Hmm.
  • LelandLeland
    "felt to mean" yeah!
  • LelandLeland
    I want a feelings dictionary!
  • lolololo
    Well, I ended up putting my duty off until December; I have a conference for my job the day after I was called so I didn't want to miss that BY BEING IN COURT.

    Hopefully I'm in Texas and unable to attend at that time because I'm celebrating Christmas.
  • UncleBoatShoes2011UncleBoatShoes2011
    The whole mis-defined nonplussed issue came up on the RADIO YACHT podcast that we recorded last night in the van on a 15 hour drive cause I had read this thread.

    I'm at a bar called Padre's in Marfa Texas writing this on my phone.
  • LelandLeland
    And.... I am listening to that podcast right now. Eerie!
  • MirandaJulyMirandaJuly
    This thread is so famous.
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