I have been a registered voter for 20 years and only called to jury duty once, and that one I missed because I didn't open the envelope.
My only hope is that I could keep my goddamn mouth shut long enough to actually get on one.
You are lucky. The whole process is incredible inefficient and wasteful of the potential jurors time - call in 100 people and make them sit around all day in the court house just so you can dismiss them all because the defence lawyer wants to play games. Shakespeare was on to something I think.
That was my experience the one time I got called in for jury duty. I was very curious about the process and disappointed when I missed the final cut. I did got into the court room, and had a look at the defendant, heard the charges...
I was hoping for an experience like '12 Angry Men'. Maybe next time.
Change your registered address: Seems like every time I move I get a letter. Still haven't served and it was only the first time when I had just turned 18 that I walked past the dock for selection.
[citation needed]
What makes you think that?
If you have ever had the “pleasure” of being called up for jury duty then you will quickly see that anyone thought to have more than half a brain still functioning is excluded. I have been called up several times and been thrown off as soon as my title was noted (not that having a Ph.D means you have half a functioning brain).
Addendum to the why:
- If you lean towards one side, the other side is incentivized to dismiss you.
- If you're in a case with lawyers, both sides actually want jurors that they can influence, rather than jurors that will come to their own, unexpected, uncontrollable conclusions. That would be a dangerous wildcard.