A Jury of One's Peers...Or Not

I actually think people who have been on the other side of the law would make excellent jurors; some I'm sure have a reasoned perspective matters criminal and civil.

LOL, I sure hope you don't really believe what you spouted there! By definition you cannot be impartial because of your own encounters with "the law." Same reason they don't pick police officers to serve on criminal court juries.

I don't drive, but I've been called for jury duty twice. I am registered to vote, though.

I don't want to sound like some 7th-grade Social Studies teacher, but being on a jury is a valuable privilege and reflexively wanting to get out of jury duty because it's inconvenient is pretty unfortunate, not to mention immature.

"it would be harder for lower-class (non white) people to serve on the jury because their jobs and responsibilities are harder to move around for the change in schedule. sure jobs have to let you go, but low wage jobs typically are not flexible nor understanding. same with the demands of childcare or other things of that nature..."

That's bullshit.

Broaden the jury lists? It's bad enough New York county thinks I live in Manhattan based on having a post office box near where I work.

it would be harder for lower-class (non white) people to serve on the jury because their jobs and responsibilities are harder to move around for the change in schedule. sure jobs have to let you go, but low wage jobs typically are not flexible nor understanding. same with the demands of childcare or other things of that nature...

Lawyer #15. I think they are not saying that you must be a voter to legally be on jury duty, but that those responsible for finding jury duty candidates look to the voter registration list for candidates.

I was on a Manhattan grand jury for a month last summer--there was no way to get out of it. The usual "I can't be impartial" excuse isn't accepted since they don't go through voir dire.

-nisey79

The database cannot be DMV. I do not drive, never had a NY license, and I get summonsed all the time.

I assumed voter registration.

Guest #9. Just say you're Polish or Ukrainian. "No English". One of the benefits of a city that still has a lot of European immigrants I guess...

Jen Chung = one track mind.

You don't have to be a registered voter, you just have to be a citizen. Trust me, I'm a lawyer.

correction for voting:

New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, like most states, do not allow current inmates or parolees to vote.

You cannot serve on any Jury if you're a convicted felon ( this is a lifetime achievement award)

You have to be a registered voter (it is against the law for a convicted felon to vote)

and

Showing up means almost nothing, It's getting picked that means the most. the prosecuition and defense both have to agree to have anyone on a jury... that's why the selectionm process can be lengthy—grand juries are just picked from the pile, no selction process.

I was recently on a very diverse jury in the supreme court (criminal case) in new york county. although all of us knew the defendant was guilty, reasonable doubt got him off... lucky for him—it would have been his third strike—20 years in prison (he is 56 years old)

Although I don't know for certain what database is used to identify the names and addresses of potential jurors, I do know that it does not depend on being a U.S. citizen or having a drivers license.

However, once summoned, only a U.S. citizen may become a member of the jury pool. As mentioned in earlier comments, this may explain the disparity between the percentage of non-whites in the census data and the percentage of non-whites that actually serve.

People like myself can appear in the census data, but cannot participate on a jury.

Here is a tip to get out of jury duty. Just say that you are impartial and don't think you can sit in judgement of another person. works every time.

I agree that one reason (and this reason actually applies to me personally and I'm black) might be that convicted felons are not entered into the jury pool. This means anyone convicted of a felony, regardless of whether they served prison time or probation.

Also, how many people who are NYC natives lack driver's licenses compared to the white Americans who move in? I don't!

Robot's not all the way there -- while convicted felons can vote in NY, they are still not considered for juries. I'm sure that that is having its effect here.

I actually think people who have been on the other side of the law would make excellent jurors; some I'm sure have a reasoned perspective matters criminal and civil.

I got called for jury duty a few weeks ago in Brooklyn, and noticed that the biggest way people were trying to get out of having to serve was by claiming they couldn't speak English fluently. As a boring white person, I couldn't claim such a thing. But I would have, if I could have!

Since when did "peer" come to mean the same color as you?

I think the names are actually drawn out of the DMV database. Therefore, only those who holds a drivers license are in the selection pool for jury duty.

Of course, you need to also account for the fact that automatic disqualifications includes felony record (statistically, more blacks are affected here - and before calling me a racist, check the stats first), non-citizenship (Hispanics and Asians), and lack of understanding of English (again, Hispanics and Asians).

After this, you can see why more whites are serving on the jury than their representation of the census.

Robot, good observation given that illegal immigrants are counted in the census and they would not be eligible to vote/serve on a jury.

As for people getting out of jury duty, I imagine that some minorities who are called on juries might be able to say they have financial and personal (like child care) responsibilities that would preclude them from serving. Whereas a stereotypical, middle class white potential juror would be able to take time off from a white-collar job.

I should add that the one time I did jury duty, it was a very diverse group. But that was in Brooklyn.

Maybe I'm mistaken on how the NY jury system works, but if you have to be registered to vote in order to serve jury duty, AND you have to be a US citizen to vote, then some of if is self explanatory (at least regarding many Latin and Asian people). As for African-Americans, there should simply be a greater push to get that community registered to vote.

all this says is blacks don't show up for jury duty.

I thought the whities would be better at getting out of jury duty?

Interesting, and oh yeah, my grand jury pool was heavily tilted towards white.

In my Grand jury make up, over 80 percent white. maybe more. OK, to make it easier, 3 blacks, one asian, maybe 2 hispanics (they were quiet), the rest white and very conservative.

sure the holding pen may be diverse.

wow, my percentages almost mirror the findings.