I was kind of excited to get selected for jury duty.  I’ve never done it before, and it seems like it might be interesting.  I mean I wouldn’t want to have to sit for a 4 month trial or anything, but maybe a day of civic duty in our legal system would be a cool experience.

But they already had enough people, so I didn’t get called.  No real-life 12 Angry Men for me.

Avoiding jury duty is apparently a big deal.  There are tons of websites offering advice on how to get out of jury duty.  Some even go so far as to call it a form of slavery, or rather, “involuntary servitude.”  I suppose that’s technically correct: it’s a service you’re required to perform, and you didn’t volunteer for it.  In fact, you can’t volunteer for jury duty, and it’s illegal to skip when you’re called.

Is it really that bad?  Having never served, I can’t really say.

“Getting out of jury duty is easy. The trick is to say you’re prejudiced against all races.” –Homer Simpson

The pamphlet I received with my summons says that jurors are selected randomly using lists from the DMV and voter registrations.  So, if you really don’t want to ever be called for jury duty, you have an out.  Don’t drive and don’t vote.

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