The US "justice" system is a travesty; what should I do when called for jury duty?

Think about if you don’t go, who will, in your place? And if the thinking, educated people all manage to get out of jury duty and you find yourself on trial, who will be your jury? Yes, the system is certainly very flawed, but it’s what we have.

Go or not, that is up to you, and I understand your concerns, but will your absence change it for the better? Can your conscience take a chance of even more injustice being served by your absence? And why should your conscience bother you if you don’t support a corrupt system?

I’m not trying to be snarky, honest, just trying to demonstrate the twisty road you’re on, here. I don’t know the answers to these questions myself, and I wish you good conscience in whatever decision.

You should report for jury duty. Before you are assigned to a jury, the judge will ask if anyone in the assembled pool has a reason why they might be unable to serve. And I can all but guarantee that a statement from you that you don’t believe a fair trial possible in America will result in your immediate dismissal from consideration.

You could always lie during jury selection, and then vote “not guilty”, regardless of how the trial goes, leading to a hung jury.
They will probably hit you with “contempt of court”, but hey, worth it.

There are many ways to get out of jury duty, one that might help if your going to be off work and not paid by your employer to be there you can write in explaining the hardship of missing work will take a very long time to recover from.
Another is show up in old(but clean) work clothes,like the ones you would work on the car or clean out the attic in.
Appearance is a big part of the selection process.
The first time I was summoned my employer didn’t pay to be there and we had a good size mortgage so the financial hardship was a big thing the court said my wife,who wasn’t working at the time could stand in for me.
Twenty years later I was summoned again and the employer was paying this time, but the court date was cancelled and got out of it again.

I guess it depends on how adamant you are about your convictions. If you fully believe our justice system is a travesty, you can refuse to show. Send them a letter telling them you find them a travesty and refuse to serve. You will likely be punished for that by the same justice system you despise, but you will stand by your values.
You could report as you were told to, and then tell them that you don’t believe our justice system can produce a fair trial. That would compromise your standards by actually participating in the justice system you despise and there would be no guarantee your efforts to avoid jury duty would be successful. The judge might tell you that a fair trial depends heavily on the attitude and performance of good jurors.
You could report as you were told and hold back your convictions in an effort to purposely sabotage the trial. That would, again, compromise your standards as you would then participate in the justice system you despise. You would also be participating under false pretenses…lying. And if you purposely threw a trial, you could be releasing a criminal back onto the streets to do further harm to members of society.
You could go and serve and do your best to try bringing justice back to the justice system. You would, again, compromise your standards by participating, but you would also be supporting them by trying to show what true justice should be.

Your call.

I think you’re misreading what takes place in court. As a juror you are the sole arbiter of guilt or innocence. You’re not there to resolve prison conditions but you are able to determine the credibility of anyone involved including the police. The judges instructions are merely to explain the law. Should you choose not to participate, you are in effect choosing to support the system as is. I’ve been on a jury and I found it to be quite enlightening. Both in the testimony and the way the other jurors evaluated it. You may be right in your assessment of our legal system but it would behoove you to participate first and then judge the system for your self. Frankly it sounds like you’re just looking for a way to skip out and justify your illegal and immoral decision.

Just go. Chances are you will not be called. If you are, tell them you have no faith in the criminal justice system, don’t trust cops, or agree with for profit prisons. This has gotten me off of a jury a few times. If it’s a civil case, it’s a bit harder. Just express some sort of bias re the case.

I also live in California.

The reasons you give for not serving are also reasons for getting involved and being on the jury. Be the change you want to see. The judge is not the final word in a trial, the jurors are.

Comply with the summons. You doing the right thing makes the system better.
You may think the system is messed up, but it isn’t always so.

Definitely go! You are precisely the kind of person who should be there!

If you are selected you’ll learn more than you can imagine and will look at the system from a different perspective.

It is well worth your time. Do it!

I’d do it if I were you, at the very least because not doing it means punishment, and I think it’s not worth the punishment to not do it. Just show up and go through the process. It seems like more energy to not do it.

@Jaxk I probably wouldn’t have responded, except that I’m quite offended by your comment, “Frankly it sounds like you’re just looking for a way to skip out and justify your illegal and immoral decision.” I’d like to say I don’t give a shit what you think of me or my motives, but obviously I do, or I wouldn’t be responding.

No, I’m not trying to get out of anything. My question wasn’t about whether to report for jury duty. It was about what to do when I got there. So, illegal? Up yours. Immoral? I said in my question that I have a bad conscience about it. If that sounds immoral to you, like I’m trying to shirk my civic duty, then allow me to suggest that you look up “projection”.

I did report for jury duty. I listened carefully to the judge’s instructions all day long, and when I was finally called to the box, I told the judge I would not be able to put out of my mind the things I listed above, and would therefore not be a suitable juror—for the very reasons you mentioned: it’s not a juror’s job to fix the prison system or the behavior of the police (the judge mentioned things to that effect many times; I didn’t misread anything). It was very difficult for me to do that, in front of a room full of people who were inclined to be swept along by the process, who probably think I’m a traitor. You are cordially invited to kiss my ass.

Peace and luck (I mean that sincerely.)

Wait! Tell us how the judge ruled on your fitness for jury service.

@stanleybmanly She asked whether I could follow the instructions to consider only the facts presented by the two attorneys, and I said I wouldn’t be able to. She pressed me about it, wanting to know my reasons, and I stammered out something like what I said above, in my original post. I said I would not be able to put those things out of my mind.

She asked the two attorneys whether they wanted to talk to me (they talked to everyone who said they weren’t sure), but neither of the attorneys had anything to say.

So she was merciful, and excused me. I guess I ruled myself out?

@canidmajor You’ve made me think, you big meanie.

I wish I’d had a perspective like yours in mind. When the judge asked whether I could follow all the instructions, I told her I could not, due to the reasons above. But you’ve made a seriously good point: at the risk of sounding snobbish, I probably would have been a better juror than whoever replaced me. And if they found the defendant guilty, he’d go to an animal pen anyway—I would not have been able to prevent that. If I had served, I might have been able (at least in theory) to make sure he got the closest available approximation to justice.

Drat! Thanks for that perspective. I’ll need it next time I’m summoned.

Peace and luck

And my work here is done. :-D