Jury duty

[Anonymous]

Hey folks. I’ve always managed to get a doctor’s note to get me out of jury duty. I’ve always been afraid of my adhd to cause me to miss something important and that it would cause me to let a guilty man go free or sentence an innocent man to the death penalty or cause him to be raped for twenty years in prison. I’ll leave it up to you to say which is the worst of these but my question is have any of you wondered about it? Were you ever afraid to go on jury duty because of it? Have any of you gone on jury duty despite it? If so how do you think you did? You think you were able to overcome your adhd and render a good verdict? Do you feel confident about said verdict? Miguel

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[sdwa]

Yes, I have thought about it quite a bit.

I’ve been called to jury duty at least half a dozen times in my life – all before I knew I had ADHD. I’ve never been selected to serve on a jury. Maybe I seem weird, or maybe they wouldn’t have chosen me anyway – I don’t know. However, based on past experience, I’m guessing I never will be chosen, probably because I look like a wreck.

That’s because I freak out every time I have to go into the courthouse building. I feel overwhelmed. I get so upset just being there, with so many people, the noise, the guards, the scrutiny involved in going through security and sitting in a jury box, the questions, the loud video tapes, etc. that I can’t eat or sleep for the entire 48 hours. Plus, it’s boring to sit there waiting to be herded about – truly hellishly boring. I feel like I’m the one in jail. I hate everything about it. It’s a horrible ordeal.

I’ve thought about asking my psychiatrist for a letter the next time I get a summons, but I don’t know if I want that in my permanent medical records or in the courthouse records. I’ve wondered what would happen if I asked a judge to excuse me once I’m already there.

Would I be good on a jury? Probably not, because I won’t assert myself in a group, and I get confused easily. I get emotional and defensive.

But consider this: There actually are attorneys who are courtroom litigators, who have ADHD. No one is stopping them from presenting a case, which involves much more detailed work than listening to a case. No one asks them to disclose that they have ADHD, either, I bet. If they can do it, why couldn’t one of us do it?

As for causing someone to go to prison for years, that’s why there’s more than one person on the jury. The majority decides.

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[nellie]

When my oldest daughter was a baby I got a jury duty summons. Being up to the ceiling in laundry at the time (no exaggeration – way pre-diagnosis you see), I thought they couldn’t possibly be serious about me serving on a jury.I thought I wrote “sorry I have a baby ” and mailed the form back ( yeah right!) and was quite surprised when a year or so later I got a court summons – I ignored it – then a little later a friendly bailiff found me and I had to pay a 200 $ fine ( a lot at the time). He was actually quite nice about it and said I could try and plead to a judge but, when I showed up at the court house, I decided it was way to much hassle and the fine seemed easier to deal with. So if I ever get another jury duty summons I’ll pay attention and follow proper procedures!

However, that said I think I’d make a good juror. I’m fairly objective. As for focus, well I’m sure non- add people get bored too and not everyone pays attention to every single detail. Anyway, wouldn’t stress about it. I would be more annoyed about the disruption to my personal schedule and taking time out of my life.

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[Anonymous]

I’ve been called up for jury duty 5 times and i have never had a chance to serve. but think on this its stressful to everybody i my self cant serve because of a state law and my hobby (i work with the sheriff department-SHeriff’s Amateur Radio Program), or that i know to many cops (i bring there id cards with me fore prof)

how i reduce the amount of stress is to bring my kindle, a deck of cards, and $30(why is it not-30$ ?) in quarters and hang out in the jurist lounge in sight of the snack machines, by coming to the aid of unknown person (w/ a fist full of winkled bills) it reduces there stress of said person as well as mine and is a good icebreaker. another good idea for any security gate is that i stop before the gate and put all my pocket stuff(change, keys, wallet, handkerchief etc.-everything!) belt in a bag and switch to Sandals for the security gate then after I’ve got through the gate i reset to my normal pocket setup and clean cut look. in fact when i fly i wear a coverall and Sandals until after the security gate.

this might help reduce your anxiety level.

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[Anonymous]

I was called on jury duty 4 years ago, and, as a lawyer, I assumed I’d get off. My family has a lot of cops, so the prosecutor liked me. But I’m (obviously, now that I know I am ADD) an out of the box thinker, so the defense liked me, too. My ADD is a-typical, so I was not worried about focus–I tend to over compensate and hyperfocus. The trial was a murder trial, and we acquitted by reason of self defense. One of the most interesting experiences I’ve ever had.

As for serving with ADD, there is a part of voire dire (jury selection) where you can talk to the judge and lawyers quietly. If you’re not comfortable taking on the responsibility, use that opportunity to raise the concerns. Either counsel may decide to excuse you for reason, or the judge may order you excused. So long as you’re serious about it, and convey to the judge that you’re not trying to slack off (judges can be jerks too), you should be okay. If you get a tough judge, they may ask personal questions about your work and how you perform your job (i.e., if you can function at work, why not here).

If you’re picked, do the best you can, and keep notes if you’re allowed to. When you deliberate, you’ll have 11 (or 5) others who can fill in the blanks if you miss anything.

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[Curlymoe115]

If you really want to get out of jury duty, when they ask you if you can be impartial tell them you always go with your first impression. Then tell them that you are pretty sure the person is guilty. For me it would be like being a voyeur. You get a front seat at a trial where you hear the ins and outs of the case. Everyone is looking and speaking to me. I have been summoned twice for Jury Duty, the first time I couldn’t do it, no child care. The second time I wanted to do it (pretty high profile murder case) but I was too far into the jury pool. Another 13 had already been selected.

I did a security position where I was paid to go through peoples stuff. They actually paid me to look through your bag, purse, pockets ect. I saw some pretty interesting stuff. Talked to some pretty interesting people. Just think, if you went into a restaurant and picked up the woman next to you purse you would be at minimum escorted from the restaurant. But I was not only handed her purse, but she had to let me look through the whole purse and be helpful when I asked questions about why she kept what she did in it. And after looking in thousands of bags let me tell you, no two people ever carry the same things. I mean there are some similarities but there are also a lot of differences. So the next time you are going to the courthouse put something different in your bag, pocket, purse or whatever. Make their day. It gets pretty boring for these security people (at least in Canada) and they need something to break up their day. Loved the work, hated the office politics. But then I am a people watcher.

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[Anonymous]

Dude i am so on par with you. I worked security at a mmiddle school. i got to talk to some awesome teachers and parents. and some assholes who didn’t care about their kids too. you take the good with the bad. i got invited to retreats with the teachers where we got to eat drink and gossip. eventhough i was a security guard i was never treated like the help. it was awesome. it was the best two years of my life professionally speaking. they gave me ample time off to take care of my Mom during her bout with cancer and served as great shoulders to cry on when she died. I loved it. It’s great for people like us. if only it would pay more. miguel

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