Jury duty- should it be required?

[Matt]

Here in Canada if you get called for jury duty you have to go, do you think it should be mandatory?

[Deleted]

I know here if you are called you need to show up for the preliminary pick, usually it lasts 3 months I think. And if you dont show up I think you can get into trouble. I have been on a jury and it is something I will never forget. Usually they pick people who have registered to vote. I also believe you have to have a reasonable excuse to not be on a jury. Personally I think it is a good thing to do jury but not everyone thinks that.

[Matt]

I know someone who recently got picked and she's tried to get excused but I'm not sure what will happen.

[Deleted]

Aug 22, 2016 23:01:44 GMT -6 Matt said:

I know someone who recently got picked and she's tried to get excused but I'm not sure what will happen.

When I was called for jury duty there was about 50 people there, this guy who was seated next to me complaning that he better not be picked and so on, he was called for the initial questions why he wants to be excused I dont know what he said but the judge told him that he was not excused another person by me said he wanted to be seated, the attornies asked a few question and he said he was a student then the judge told him he was excused and the guy said he wanted to be on jury but the judge said no and to go back to school.

[Vincent Van Ghoul]

I'm by no means any kind of legal expert, so when I say something wrong, please correct me.

Jury's in 'Murica, and apparently Canada, baffle me. From what I understand, everyone who is a citizen can be called to be in a jury. So in theory, you could have serious criminals be judged by people vulnerable to bias and ignorance, which is a brilliant recipe for disaster.

Here in Denmark, as I understand it, potential jurors are chosen each year by a committee of qualified people, who in turn select local citizens who are qualified to be jurors.
I've never been called, nor do I even know anyone who's been called.

The principle of it is fine, but in practice it sounds so very risky.

[Deleted]

Aug 23, 2016 21:12:33 GMT -6 Vincent Van Ghoul said:

I'm by no means any kind of legal expert, so when I say something wrong, please correct me.

Jury's in 'Murica, and apparently Canada, baffle me. From what I understand, everyone who is a citizen can be called to be in a jury. So in theory, you could have serious criminals be judged by people vulnerable to bias and ignorance, which is a brilliant recipe for disaster.

Here in Denmark, as I understand it, potential jurors are chosen each year by a committee of qualified people, who in turn select local citizens who are qualified to be jurors.
I've never been called, nor do I even know anyone who's been called.

The principle of it is fine, but in practice it sounds so very risky.

I agree with you in allot of ways. When I was doing the prescreening  or preliminary process I was asked if I knew any of the attorny's on both sides I knew the defendants attorney, they then asked how I knew him which I told them. Then they asked if I could make a unbiased decision on the facts presented. Which I said I could.  I am quite certain there are people who will lie.

I want to believe in our legal system but there have been too many innocent people convicted and put to death.

[Matt]

Aug 23, 2016 21:12:33 GMT -6 Vincent Van Ghoul said:

I'm by no means any kind of legal expert, so when I say something wrong, please correct me.

Jury's in 'Murica, and apparently Canada, baffle me. From what I understand, everyone who is a citizen can be called to be in a jury. So in theory, you could have serious criminals be judged by people vulnerable to bias and ignorance, which is a brilliant recipe for disaster.

Here in Denmark, as I understand it, potential jurors are chosen each year by a committee of qualified people, who in turn select local citizens who are qualified to be jurors.
I've never been called, nor do I even know anyone who's been called.

The principle of it is fine, but in practice it sounds so very risky.

That's correct, any citizen can be called for jury duty, but wouldn't people who are qualified to be jurors be biased too because they applied to be qualified?

[Vincent Van Ghoul]

Aug 23, 2016 21:53:23 GMT -6 Matt said:

Aug 23, 2016 21:12:33 GMT -6 Vincent Van Ghoul said:

I'm by no means any kind of legal expert, so when I say something wrong, please correct me.

Jury's in 'Murica, and apparently Canada, baffle me. From what I understand, everyone who is a citizen can be called to be in a jury. So in theory, you could have serious criminals be judged by people vulnerable to bias and ignorance, which is a brilliant recipe for disaster.

Here in Denmark, as I understand it, potential jurors are chosen each year by a committee of qualified people, who in turn select local citizens who are qualified to be jurors.
I've never been called, nor do I even know anyone who's been called.

The principle of it is fine, but in practice it sounds so very risky.

That's correct, any citizen can be called for jury duty, but wouldn't people who are qualified to be jurors be biased too because they applied to be qualified?

There's no application process, citizens are chosen by educated, professional and qualified people specifically for their ability to remain unbiased and professional.

[Matt]

Aug 23, 2016 21:56:25 GMT -6 Vincent Van Ghoul said:

Aug 23, 2016 21:53:23 GMT -6 Matt said:

That's correct, any citizen can be called for jury duty, but wouldn't people who are qualified to be jurors be biased too because they applied to be qualified?

There's no application process, citizens are chosen by educated, professional and qualified people specifically for their ability to remain unbiased and professional.

That makes sense, but how do the professionals know that the citizens would be professional and unbiased?

[Vincent Van Ghoul]

Aug 23, 2016 21:56:59 GMT -6 Matt said:

Aug 23, 2016 21:56:25 GMT -6 Vincent Van Ghoul said:

There's no application process, citizens are chosen by educated, professional and qualified people specifically for their ability to remain unbiased and professional.

That makes sense, but how do the professionals know that the citizens would be professional and unbiased?

I assume these people, lawyers and such, get access to criminal and social records that tell them what they need to know. On top of that I also assume they conduct basic interviews to make sure. Jury's in Denmark are also only called for in cases where the minimum penalty is 4 years of prison.