No, they had pizza: https://twitter.com/tolstoybb/status/1720228218672988667?t=t...
"So this guy is guilty right?"
(10x other Jurors) "Agreed".
(That one "For Fairness" Juror) "I dunno, we're sending this guy to jail for an awfully long time. I think we need to think it over a bit longer."
"Fine, Lets get pizza".
* 4 hours later *
"Okay, we thought about it some more. He's guilty right?"
(11x other Jurors) Guilty.
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At least, I'm amused by the thought of a "reverse 12 Angry Men" style setup, where everyone agrees upon the same premise (that a quick decision is a bad idea for everyone), but the additional time thinking changed nothing.
On a serious note - not sure how much you get compensated on Juries but in Australia it is not that much if you work as a software dev, so staying on a Jury for 8 weeks could mean even not being able to pay your mortgage for some (yes you should have savings but...). I am sure there is a financial incentive to finish these things quickly?
Most large companies do, however.
> When an exempt employee reports for a full workweek of jury duty and does no work for his or her organization, the employer is not required to pay the exempt worker for the week. However, _if the employee does any work for the organization, including checking and responding to work messages/emails, the employee is considered to have worked during the workweek and is entitled to a full week of pay._
So basically if you check your email then you are entitled to the full week anyhow. One mess up and an ensuing lawsuit would blow the whole average year's worth of jury duty savings from _not_ paying your juror-ing employees.
I was also paid by the court for attending jury duty (a physical check that arrived in the mail a few months later). It was not very much money (I think around $20 per day) - this money was supposed to cover things like Transport, parking fees and meals. In my case the trial was called off after 3 days so the check was for around $60.
Maybe if you are part time or on a contract it is different.
They are at least prevented from firing you though.
They need a better system. I can’t get a shorter trial. There’s no system to put you in a pool when you are freer.
Larger companies will theoretically pay for a few days or whatever and will, in practice, pay for a bit more. But something like grand jury trials can go on for months and AFAIK there's no obligation for companies to cover you taking those months off while still being paid. In practice, in my personal experience, the government avoids pressing people into service who really don't want to do so for an extended period but they have no obligation to do so.
Edit: Just checked the state website... it's even worse than I remembered: "Trial jurors receive $12 for the first day of service and $20 for each day thereafter. If you serve more than five days, you will receive $40 per day."
I've been in several panels from which jury selection was being done, and in the screening-for-hardships portion, those type of things were not, in and of themselves, hardships. Its rather the norm for private employers not to pay for jury duty, leaving you only with the rather minimal jury stipend.
He wasn't dismissed. The standard was pretty high.
I was called for jury duty via email sent to my home when I was studying abroad for a semester, 4,500 miles away.
Unbeknownst to me, my parents requested an excuse from jury duty on my behalf because I was out of the country, which upset me, as I was hoping for the 9,000 * $0.50 in travel allowance...
Seemed like so much money at the time!
I served on a jury a number of months back, and in my part of the US, they pay $10/day. They ask if you want to donate it to the fund that stocks and maintains the jury waiting area, and 90% of everybody says yes.
If you can show that you'll suffer an undue hardship (like, for instance, financial distress or having to care for a loved one), they'll dismiss you from service and mark you as having served.
I feel like that's impossible to happen in Manhattan federal court. That city's pizza is so good.....
Then again, if you live there, maybe your Pizza standards are just higher?