Jaffrey woman is asking for help to avoid US District Court jury duty

[Kat Kanning]

I printed a bunch of fija stuff for her.

[armlaw]

If any of you have some good fija stuff we can send her, let me know. I have her address now.
[/quote]

Please go to www.fija.org and use the menu to print out whatever handbills or other literature you think she may value.

[KBCraig]

This isn't about federal juries, but there's an article today about the lengths to which some courts will go to draft unwilling jurors.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20001307/

Courts struggle to get jurors to serve
Cities increase efforts to boost participation of cornerstone of democracy
The Associated Press
Updated: 6:11 p.m. CT July 27, 2007

Madeline Byrne was making a quick trip to the grocery store to buy some cheese when a sheriff approached her car in the parking lot and slipped something through her open window.

Byrne didn't get the cheese, but she did get a jury summons.

The 64-year-old woman was ordered to report for jury duty a little more than an hour later at the Lee County courthouse in Sanford, N.C. When Byrne protested, the sheriff told her: "Be there or you'll be in contempt."

"I wasn't too happy," said Byrne, one of at least a dozen people handed summonses at random in March outside a Food Lion and Wal-Mart.

Courts across the country have been going to extraordinary lengths in recent years to get people to report for jury duty — a cornerstone of democracy and a civic responsibility that many citizens would do almost anything to avoid.

Efforts to boost participation
Experts say the shirking of jury duty has been a problem as long as anyone can remember, and it is unclear whether it has gotten any worse in the past few decades. But according to one study, fewer than half of all Americans summoned report for duty, in part because of apathy and busy lifestyles.

"Everybody likes jury duty — just not this week," said Patricia Lee Refo, a Phoenix lawyer who chaired the American Jury Project, an effort by the American Bar Association to increase jury participation.

Among other efforts around the country to boost participation:
# In Los Angeles County, officials have put ads promoting jury service on the court system's mail trucks. They read: "Jury Service: You Be the Judge."
# In New York state, occupational exemptions to jury service have been eliminated, so doctors, lawyers, firefighters, police officers and even judges can no longer get out of jury duty.
# In Florida, court officials use a poster of Harrison Ford, star of the movie "Presumed Innocent," to encourage people to report for jury duty. The poster was part of a 2005 public service campaign developed by the ABA. "If a picture of Harrison Ford helps us be a more democratic society, then I'm all for it," said Greg Cowan, a court official in Leon County, Fla.
# In Washington, D.C., judges have summoned no-shows to court, where they must explain why they missed their date or face up to seven days in jail and a $300 fine. In Tulare County, Calif., sheriffs go to the homes of no-shows and hand them orders to appear in court to explain themselves.
# Around the country, some courts have tried to make jury service less burdensome by raising daily fees paid to jurors, limiting jury service to one day or one trial, and reimbursing jurors for parking costs.

Sheriffs rarely sent to find jurors
Nationally, about 46 percent of people summoned for jury duty show up, according to a survey of jury improvement efforts conducted by the National Center for State Courts and published in April. It was the organization's first such survey.

Many of the rest did not show up or were excused or disqualified for a variety of reasons, including medical or financial hardship, or employment in a job exempt from jury service. Or, they never received their jury summons because it was mailed to an outdated address.

Ann Blakely, the clerk of Superior Court in North Carolina's Lee County, said sending out sheriffs to find jurors at random is done very rarely, and only when a judge is about to begin a case and there are not enough jurors.

"Not again in my lifetime, I hope," she said. "We got a lot of complaints from people. You do not make friends like that."

Some people struggle mightily to get out of jury duty. Earlier this month, a Cape Cod, Mass., judge reprimanded a potential juror and reported him to prosecutors after he tried to get out of jury service by saying he was "not a fan of homosexuals and most blacks" and was "frequently found to be a liar, too."

Boston juror shortage
In Manhattan, about 33 percent of those summoned show up the day they are called — up from 23 percent in the mid-1990s, before widespread reforms were put in place, including the elimination of all occupational exemptions and the use of five different lists to pick potential jurors from, including voter registrations, licensed drivers, taxpayers, unemployment and aid recipients, said Anthony Manisero, statewide jury manager.

In Boston, about 24 percent of the people called for jury duty in 2006 completed their service before the end of the year — an improvement from less than 20 percent in the mid-1990s, before the city began updating its address lists.

Nevertheless, the juror shortage in Boston has become so acute that court officials are worried they may run out of jurors before the end of the year.

An increase in the number of homicides in Boston and the use of special grand juries to investigate violent crimes have eaten into the prospective juror list.

The city also has a large number of immigrants, who are exempt from jury duty, and college students, who move so frequently that their summonses are often sent back as undeliverable.

'A common problem'
The problem appears to be worse in urban courts, where the population is more transient and address lists can quickly become outdated. But rural and suburban areas also have problems with reluctant jurors.

In Tulare County, Calif., where the trial of two brothers accused of murdering five people in a bar had to be delayed a day because not enough prospective jurors showed up, Superior Court Judge Lloyd Hicks said the warning letters and visits from the sheriff are making a difference. He said the no-show rate has declined from about 56 percent to 39 percent since the crackdown began about a year ago.

"It had been a common problem because people were aware that nothing would happen to them," Hicks said. Now, people are calling in to schedule their jury service after watching their neighbors get a visit from the sheriff, he said.

[srqrebel]

This is great news!  If the courts are actually getting that desperate, perhaps those of us who are fully informed have a better chance of getting on a jury.

[Dreepa]

Hell.... they can call me.. I will be on a jury.

[Recumbent ReCycler]

I've never served jury duty.  The only time I've ever gotten a notice to serve was while I was in the Army, far from there.  If they are so desperate for jurors, why don't they ask for volunteers?  I'm not working right now, and would be willing to serve on a jury, even at the exceptionally low rate of compensation that they get.

[lildog]

This is great news!  If the courts are actually getting that desperate, perhaps those of us who are fully informed have a better chance of getting on a jury.

I was telling a friend not long ago that I'm disappointed in that never once have I ever been called for jury duty and I was told you can volunteer if you wanted.  I'm not sure if that's true or not or maybe it's a state by state thing (as this was in NY).  If you can that is something anyone who can afford the time should consider doing.

[wolf]

If this woman is in contact with free stater's it is reasonable to believe that she cares about personal freedom and is against the excesses of all levels of control freak government that we have witnessed in recent years. Jury duty is a rare opportunity for nobodies such as us to make a statement against the corrupt criminal justice system and the pieces of shit politicians that it serves.  This girl should avail herself of this rare opportunity to strike back at the corrupt court system and prosecutors and sit on the jury.

If the case she is sitting on is a prosecution for some non-crime such as smoking pot, no building permit, failure to "show your papers"  to the pigs, no barber's license. Or any of the myriad of other "offenses" against the powers that be that caused harm to no one, she can strike a blow for freedom by voting NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF JURY NULLIFICATION. Fuck the court system- Girl you can hit them where it hurts and nullify one of there stupid laws that perpetuate there power trip. SERVE ON THE JURY

[lildog]

she can strike a blow for freedom

I so did not read that right the first time... my mind skipped over "strike a"    I was all set to volunteer to help the protest along!

[Kat Kanning]

I wonder why libertarians are so quick to tell others (like this "girl", who is an elderly lady) what they "should" do.

[KBCraig]

I wonder why libertarians are so quick to tell others (like this "girl", who is an elderly lady) what they "should" do.

Well, there's this:

A nice woman from Jaffrey called looking for help in avoiding jury duty at the US District Court.

[Kat Kanning]

Yes, avoiding jury duty.

[armlaw]

Yes, avoiding jury duty.

[/shadow]

Federal court jury duty requires the discrimination of only United States Citizens being members of their jury.  That is those who are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the 14th amendment. Thus, such discrimination renders the current federal jury selection unconstitutional.  Those of us who have expatriated themselves from the jurisdiction of the corporate government, ie: the "United States", as defined in the positive law of 28 USC 3002(15), are prohibited from being chosen for jury duty, as we do not quality as "United States Citizens". We are "inhabitants" of the sovereign republic of New Hampshire pursuant to Article 30, Part II, New Hampshire Constitution and are "state citizens", not "federal citizens", subject to the foreign corporations corporate charter. Are you, by an adhesion contract, a "United States Citizen"...Think about it.

[J’raxis 270145]

Yes, avoiding jury duty.

[/shadow]

Federal court jury duty requires the discrimination of only United States Citizens being members of their jury.  That is those who are "subject to the jurisdiction" of the 14th amendment. Thus, such discrimination renders the current federal jury selection unconstitutional.  Those of us who have expatriated themselves from the jurisdiction of the corporate government, ie: the "United States", as defined in the positive law of 28 USC 3002(15), are prohibited from being chosen for jury duty, as we do not quality as "United States Citizens". We are "inhabitants" of the sovereign republic of New Hampshire pursuant to Article 30, Part II, New Hampshire Constitution and are "state citizens", not "federal citizens", subject to the foreign corporations corporate charter. Are you, by an adhesion contract, a "United States Citizen"...Think about it.

The 28 USC 3002(15) definition of "United States" only seems to apply to chapter 176 of Title 28, by the way (see the very first clause of 28 USC 3002). That the definition says that "United States" refers to entities "of the United States" in 28 USC 3002(15)(B) and (C) makes me think that either someone thought recursive definitions in the USC were funny, or there's a broader definition of "United States" as used outside chapter 176.

[armlaw]

 That the definition says that "United States" refers to entities "of the United States" in 28 USC 3002(15)(B) and (C) makes me think that either someone thought recursive definitions in the USC were funny, or there's a broader definition of "United States" as used outside chapter 176.
[/quote]
You missed 28 USC 3002(15)(a) where: The term "United States" is defined as a corporation.
Further in 1945 in the supreme court decision 324 U.S. 652 the following was determined, (once and for all, as I understand the court has refused to overturn itself) Here it is: "The term "United States" may be used in any one of several sense. It may be merely the name of a sovereign occupying the position analogous to that of other sovereigns in the family of nations. It may designate the territory over which the sovereignty to the United States [672] extends, or it may be the collective name of the states which are united by and under the Constitution.*6*   Please see foot note *6* for understanding.