jury duty

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Potential Young Thug Juror Is About to Get Writer's Cramp
Woman Finds Out Why You
Shouldn't Skip Jury Duty
in case you missed it

Woman Finds Out Why You Shouldn't Skip Jury Duty

Potential juror in Young Thug trial ordered by judge to write 30-page essay, with 20 sources

(Newser) - A potential juror in Young Thug's trial who skipped the start of jury selection could've been held in contempt of court and faced a fine, jail time, or both. Instead, a judge in Fulton County, Georgia, came up with a much more old-school, Bart Simpson-like solution: have the...

He Got 10 Days in Jail for Missed Jury Duty. Now, Redemption

Florida judge wipes any criminality from record of 21-year-old Deandre Somerville

(Newser) - Deandre Somerville doesn't think he should've gotten 10 days in jail and a record for oversleeping and missing jury duty. Many agreed, and the resulting backlash over his Florida case may have led to a judicial retraction. Somerville, 21, has already served his jail time after sleeping late...

No-Show for Jury Duty Faces Surprising Consequences

21-year-old Deandre Somerville is thrown in jail for 10 days after oversleeping, not calling in

(Newser) - A 21-year-old Florida man made three mistakes when he got picked to serve on a jury: he overslept the next morning, he decided not to bother going in at all, and he never called anyone at the court to let them know what was going on. That last error appears...

Sheriff Steps in After 140 People Skip Jury Duty

Courts in one Georgia county were facing a crisis

(Newser) - A Georgia sheriff says he had to get involved when nearly three-fourths of people summoned for jury duty in his county failed to show up for court, the AP reports. Courts in Laurens County faced a small crisis last week when only 60 people showed up for jury duty out...

County Forced to Recruit Volunteers for Jury Duty

It didn't work, and trials were postponed

(Newser) - The judges, deputies, and clerks showed up for court, but one key element was missing: No one had invited any jurors. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that North Carolina's fourth-largest county failed to mail notices to the 1,700 or so prospective jurors needed to hear cases this week. After...

Obama Serves Jury Duty
How Obama's
Day at Jury Duty
Went

How Obama's Day at Jury Duty Went

He posed for photos, signed autographs

(Newser) - Former President Obama, free of a job that forced him to move to Washington for eight years, showed up to a downtown Chicago courthouse for jury duty on Wednesday morning. Then he heard the words most prospective jurors pray for: You're dismissed. The 44th president's motorcade left his...

Obama's Next Task: Jury Duty
Obama's 
Next Task:
Jury Duty

Obama's Next Task: Jury Duty

He'll be reporting in Cook County, Illinois, next month

(Newser) - Prospective jurors in Illinois' Cook County will see a very familiar face in their midst next month: Barack Obama received his own summons, and he plans to honor it. "He made it crystal-clear to me through his representative that he would carry out his public duty as a citizen...

Taylor Swift Serves Jury Duty
Taylor Swift Serves Jury Duty

Taylor Swift Serves Jury Duty

Gets dismissed due to potential bias

(Newser) - Celebrities are just like us: They skip the MTV Video Music Awards so that they can serve jury duty the following morning. Well, OK, we don't know for sure that's why Taylor Swift was absent from Sunday night's VMAs in New York, but that's what Business ...

Trump's Unexpected Chore Next Week: Jury Duty

He's got to show up in Manhattan on Monday

(Newser) - Donald Trump will have to play the role of an everyday citizen for once—he's been summoned for jury duty. Trump will appear in Manhattan on Monday morning. The Daily News reports that Trump got hit with a $250 fine this year for ignoring five previous summonses, but his...

George Bush Shows Up for Jury Duty

He doesn't get picked, though

(Newser) - Potential jurors in downtown Dallas today got a surprise today when George W. Bush showed up at court after being summoned for jury duty along with them. “He was very personable, very friendly, just, 'Hey I’m here to serve,’" another potential juror, Sheri Coleman, tells...

Here's One (Risky) Way to Get Out of Jury Duty

James Lowe could have spent some time in the real deal for his jail jumpsuit

(Newser) - A Vermont man has escaped jury duty—by getting dismissed for wearing a prisoner costume. James Lowe of Barnet says he was released from jury duty yesterday when he showed up to court wearing a black-and-white-striped jumpsuit with a matching beanie. The Caledonian Record reports that Lowe showed up on...

Juror Form Occupation Option: 'Slave'

DeKalb County Court quickly fixes weird problem

(Newser) - Perhaps the last thing you'd expect to see on a juror questionnaire: Under "occupation," the option of "slave." A Georgia juror told 11Alive about the bizarre choice at the DeKalb County Court, which recently switched to an online questionnaire. But a court administrator says the...

Cailfornia May Allow Noncitizens to Sit on Juries

Supporters of law say it's about 'discrimination'

(Newser) - California has recently passed a number of new bills that would expand the rights of permanent noncitizens: allowing them to monitor polls during elections; making drivers licenses available to unauthorized immigrants; and allowing those who were brought illegally to the US to practice law. But the newly passed law that...

How Juror Tom Hanks Got Guy a Reduced Charge

Whoops: Lawyer spoke to actor serving jury duty

(Newser) - Tom Hanks was just trying to do his civic duty, and he ended up inadvertently messing up a trial. Hanks was serving on a jury in LA this week, but when a lawyer in the City Attorney's Office made the mistake of talking to the actor, the case had...

Woman Dodges Jury Duty, Gets Busted for Bragging

Denver woman in trouble after telling radio station of scheme

(Newser) - Adventures in jury duty, from Denver's 9News.com :
  • Understandable: Susan Cole, 57, really wanted to get out of jury duty.
  • Going a little too far: She showed up in curlers and mismatched shoes and generally acted like a crazy person.
  • Lucky: It worked! She got out of jury duty.
...

Court Orders No-Show Juror to Hold Sign

'I failed to appear for jury duty,' it reads

(Newser) - A 22-year-old Indiana man skipped out on jury duty last month, and everyone who came to the courthouse this morning knows it: As punishment for leaving jury selection early on Dec. 5 without permission, the unnamed man was ordered by a judge to carry a sign reading "I failed...

Pharmacy Murder Suspect Begs Out of Jury Duty

And he made sure to write in and request permission

(Newser) - As jury duty excuses go, being in jail awaiting trial for quadruple homicide is pretty solid. David Laffer, the man accused of killing four people in a Long Island pharmacy last month, was supposed to show up for jury duty on June 24, the day after his arrest, the Wall ...

Oprah Ticket Frees Woman From Blagojevich Jury

Pass to show taping is 'effing golden': Blago

(Newser) - Civic duty or Oprah? It was a pressing question in Rod Blagovejich’s retrial, after a prospective juror used her ticket to an Oprah taping as an excuse to avoid being seated. Lawyers from both sides agreed to let her slide. To be fair, it’s a pass to one...

Woman Gets Indefinite Jury Duty for Racist Remarks

She got out of one trial, but she'll be back in court

(Newser) - You've probably heard stories about people getting out of jury duty by making outrageous statements—but that tactic, if in fact it was her ploy, most definitely did not work for one Brooklyn woman. Juror No. 799, up for duty in the death penalty trial of a crime boss, was...

One Way to Get Out of Jury Duty: Be Gay

Jonathan D. Lovitz is semi-famous after using that excuse

(Newser) - A creative jury duty excuse made—successfully—earlier this month is making the rounds this week: Jonathan D. Lovitz, who just so happens to have a reality show in the works, got out of jury duty by explaining that he couldn't be impartial because he's a gay man living in...

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