Do you think jury duty should be mandatory? Is it constitutional?

Question

Should there be paid trained "professional" jurors?

Answer 1

Answer the jury summons when it comes. Keep your mouth shut during jury selection. The prosecution is looking for people who are against conviction. The defense is looking for people who are for conviction. It's kinda a crap shoot to get selected..

However, depending on where you live, jury selection, although highly unconstitutional is rigged. Many juries are pre-selected (usually outside of the standard procedure) so the prosecution knows who they want before the potential jurors arrive or that all the potential jurors will vote a certain way.

What the judge will usually fail to inform the jury of is the fact that being a member of a jury is a constitutional position and one of the most important political positions most Americans will ever hold. It's called separation of powers. The legislative branch determines what the law is. The executive branch enforces the laws they choose to. The judicial branch upholds or strikes down the law in particular cases.

A juror is part of the judicial branch. So as a juror you have the right to remain silent, serve, and strike down laws you see as wrong regardless of the law or what the Judge instructs. Furthermore, as a member of a Grand Jury you are entitled to investigate anything you see fit to investigate rather than simply obeying/submitting to the District Attorneys agenda.

Judges and most attorneys will fail tell you what I'm sharing. Well, not on the record anyway. But one of the greatest things about being a juror is the power to strike down a law you see as baloney.

All you have to do is say no to conviction in deliberations. It's good if you can talk and get someone else to make your points for you. A good way to do this is just ask questions of the other jurors.

Worst case scenario: you're the lone ranger voting no and it's a hung jury. In this case either they decide to drop the prosecution or move for retrial.

Best case scenario: you influence others to vote no and the defense is found innocent. This case can then be used as precedent in future cases.

Now judges, and prosecutors, will tell you what I have just conveyed is nonsense. They will say you must only weigh the facts of the case. They ignore your right to participate in the policy-making process as defined/guaranteed in the United States Constitution. They are intentionally subverting your rights as defined in the United States Constitution.

The best way to get on a jury is to keep your mouth shut primarily and give short and sweet answers during jury selection.

Grand Juries are the most important: Why? Because Grand Juries can choose to investigate anything they see fit. District Attorneys are looking, as are most prosecutors, for pliable jurors who show little sign of cognitive thinking ability or the will to think outside the box.

So you've got to keep quiet unless they specifically ask you a specific question and then answer short and sweet in a way that they approve of.

If you like what you've just read do America a favor and copy it. Send it across America and let our fellow Americans know just how important jury service is.

On your point of paying jurors I would say that jurors ought to be paid much more than they are being paid. I figure they ought to, at a very minimum receive minimum wage compensation, plus travel expenses, for their time from start to finish beginning with jury selection and ending with the trial. But here's my stipulation: if a prosecutor loses a trial the court costs (including jury earnings) must be paid by his/her office.

Answer 2

Yes, jury duty should be mandatory. Yes it is constitutional. No there should not be professional jurors. By having a jury of your peers, ordinary people, they are reflecting the values, rationality, and common sense of an average person. If you have a professional jury you eliminate this. You also increase the chance of government corruption by a system that is used by authorities to punish political opponents, lets the guilty go free, and erodes the trust in the government.

Answer 3

A moral obligation is different from a constitutional one. There is nothing in the Constitution mandating individuals serve on juries. There's nothing mandating forced servitude to the government even if compensated. If it were so the government could force people to work for the post office or the park service. People are of a mindset if the government does something it 'must' be constitutional. Wrong. The government does unconstitutional things all the time. Ask any of the responders who say a jury is constitutional for the precise article or amendment where the federal government is authorized to hold people against their will in servitude. They will have nothing. That's not to say people shouldn't serve on juries, they should, to remedy unconstitutional situations in particular through nullification. That's where if a law is unconstitutional a jury refuses to find a defendant guilty of the so-called 'crime'.

Answer 4

Well yes,absolutely. Again yes it is in the Constitution, and NO there should never be professional jurors, as that implies some kind of hierarchy and goes against the intention of the framers of the Constitution to have a person judged by peers, and not some elitist, if the defendant so desires.

Answer 5

Yes... your chances of actually being picked are slim when you think about it... only 12 of about 300 or so getting a summons. If the jurors were "professional" then the one on trial would not get a fair trial and judgment by their peers. Jurors should indeed be compensated more than they currently are.

Answer 6

Yes it should be mandatory...
Yes it is Constitutional...
Kinda... if there are people willing to do more jury duty than others let them... but trials have to be fair

Answer 7

Um...the last time I checked, it was mandatory. You get told you have to serve on a jury, you gotta do it no matter what. So, that is just it, it already is mandatory. Atleast in the state that I live in.

Answer 8

Never trust your future to 12 people too stupid to get out of jury duty

Answer 9

I believe the jury duty is unconstitutional.

Therefore I think it should also not be mandatory.

They only thing they can impose on you is contempt of court.

Answer 10

YES, yes, & no.

Jury of your peers not who can buy justice. We call them attorneys not jury members. It is your duty to serve on a jury & one of the only required duties in the US.