Jury duty is a requirement for people who are citizens of American society. You can say that it is an obligation for citizenship within the United States. Being a juror is all about protecting people and their rights from being abused by the government. Why is this civic duty so important? It has to do with people being treated fairly by those in power.
Why Do People Have to Serve Jury Duty?
The primary reason that people have to serve jury duty has to do with our government. Wikipedia states that the Founding Fathers of the United States formed the Constitution they had to include some clauses that would protect people from potential tyranny of rulers. Long before there was a United States and a Constitution, monarchs and their chosen leaders were in charge. These individuals made up the rules for the societies they controlled.
If any of them decided that someone was guilty of a crime, then they were considered guilty. It did not matter if there was evidence or not. This was a problem for many people who lived in kingdoms because anybody could be unfairly imprisoned or executed without committing a crime. Juries are provided by courts to help keep judges, courts and prosecutors from simply denouncing a defendant’s guilt without facts to back up their claims. Articles 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Constitution endorses the use of jurors. These articles also inform people about the rules associated with forming juries.
Amendments that Support the use of Juries
Each community has rules for selecting their own juror pool. These individuals are typically selected from voters lists and from a driver’s license or I.D renewals. Each juror is randomly chosen and informed by mail that they have been selected for this important service. Jurors will then report to a local courthouse for the days they have been selected for service. Most people selected for this opportunity will not be compensated for their time off work. Just keep in mind that jurors are usually paid $40 to $60 a day for their service.
Also, people with children will typically have to find babysitting for their kids while they serve. However, there are some valid reasons that people can use to avoid jury duty. If a person is in the Armed Services and they are about to ship out to their active duty station; that is a valid reason. Other valid reasons include certain medical conditions, handicaps that prevent full participation in a case and being required to complete school work in college. However, no one should be quick to skip jury duty. Market Watch provides essential details about jury duty that will further explain how this process works in most communities. A jury selection los angeles ca has a general system in place for selecting jurors.
Other Points to Consider for Jury Duty
Jury duty typically requires people to sit around and wait to see if they will be selected for jury spot. They will have to sit and wait from morning until afternoon. If a person is not selected, they can go home but will have to return back to the court house to see if they will be selected on another day. This process will continue until they are selected for a spot on a jury or until their designated time to serve for jury duty has ended. Each courthouse tries to accommodate jurors to help them get through this process.