Re: Jury Duty
That seems way, way, over the top. Here you are one and done for a year. As for their additional volunteer work, it is greatly appreciated. But that's a separate issue from jury duty, as I see it any how.
I was involved last year in two separate felony criminal trials in Germany, as a witness for the German State.
I was contracting/consulting for a company that is a 3 hour one way drive from where I live, and stayed in a rented room there four nights a week. Both trials required I be in the town where I live starting on Wednesday in the middle of the work week.
When I received the letter from the court stating the days I would need to be there, it included the threat of a fine for me, that was the equivalent of over $20,000 for not showing up. I contacted the court and informed them that I work in another part of the country at the moment, and for me to come I would need a letter to my then client/employer from them. They sent it with along with a promise to cover all travel cost, and my missed salary. My client/employer was mad at me, and I spent a total of 12 hours on the highway to be there, and out of my pocket money on gasoline. I also had to spend two weekends away from home to make up the work missed, to comply with my contractual agreements.
I sat in the hall at the court with the local Chief of Police (the other witness) for 6 hours before being called into introduce myself, and state that what I had said, is what I saw, and then to return to the hall way.
I had already been called to police station to file a report stating what I had seen three times on weekends, and talked to the prosecuting attorney, under oath, three times, plus I spent the better part of the night of the crime talking to at least a dozen police, before taking a shower & driving 3 hours to work, without sleep.
I was informed by the Chief of Police that I was being called a anti-German, anti-Spanish racist, and was just fulfilling a vendetta, by the defense attorney, and that this could go on for weeks. I didn't know where these guys were from, nor did I really care.
In a sudden turn of events, the German turned on the Spanish guy, and plea bargained his freedom, in exchange for testimony against the Spanish guy, and backed up our story of the chain of events.
At this point the judge called me in, and informed me I was free to go, and to ask me to give him the paper work I had concerning my cost, and the receipts for gas & travel. He blew up at me for not informing him I was in another city, because I really didn't need to be there, because the court had my statements already. I informed him I had, and the court threatened me twice with a $20,000+ fine if I didn't come.
He refused to cover my cost in full, I earned over the maximum amount they would pay (they payed minimum wage), and my travel miles was over the limit I was allowed to travel to come to court. I had close to $500 of lost personal money, and spent the next two weekends out of town trying to bring the project back up to schedule.
The German guy, 23 years old, walked, no charges, the Spanish guy, 20 years old, successfully argued he was a minor, and was released to his parents, no fine or charges.
The Chief of Police, now a friend, said now you know why the Germans all look the other way when there is a crime committed before their eyes here. He said, I am payed to sit here day after day, I don't care if I am here, or at the station, you are not, think about it next time.
There were at least a dozen of my neighbors that were witnesses that night, yet when asked, they all said they had seen nothing. Now ever time something happens in the neighborhood, or they want information about someone I might know something about, on some list they have, they ring my door bell.
I won't bore you with the other trial details, but it was all the same, just different.
Sorry about going off on a tangent with this thread, but this has nothing to do with “civic duty”. It is more about abuse of office.
Moral to the story.
Government employees don't give a **** about you, or your time. They are paid well to be there, and you & I, are not. They waste your time, because it is just that, yours, not theirs. My BIL (a real nice guy) is a District Attorney, you want to hear about Civic Duty, spend an afternoon talking with him.
Not wanting to jump on you
Limited Time
, I try to give back to the community, what I get out of it, but there are limits to how far I will now go, and I set those limits.
Learned my lesson the hard way.
P.S. Did I mention, afterwards we received anonymous death threats? They were treated as a prank from local kids just having fun. Don't worry.
