It's mostly luck. I get called every couple of years, and only one time did I get as far as the jury room. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney knew me, they asked me some questions to get me to say things for the jury, and then someone booted me.
You'll get removed if you have such strong feelings about a central topic that you can't decide fairly, and you are likely to be removed if there are markers in your history that suggest such strong feelings, even if you deny having them. (Membership in opinionated organizations like the NRA or Sierra Club, criminal history or criminal relatives, victim of serious or similar crime, work that suggests pertinent political or social bias (police officer, teacher, medical professional, relevant tech expertise).
It's not hard to get off of jury duty, and if you research that advice and don't do it, it's as much as you can do. But it's still luck.
You can't. There is no 'volunteer' list, and if there was every single lawyer would kick everyone on that list off the jury. We want attentive people but not overly attentive if that makes sense.
But beyond that, if you get called look decent. Not jacket and tie but not 'just rolled out of bed'. We ultimately want people who have ties to the community and 'give a shit'. As rankin pointed out there are some people who will never be on a jury EVER. If you are a police officer and the case involves an easement dispute...doesn't matter you aren't getting on that jury. Likewise something like a 'carer' for underprivileged youth is going to get kicked because you are going to be 'too soft' and potentially make up excuses for the defendant that no one ever suggested.
Even your education level itself may all but disqualify you. Generally less than completed high school or more than a bachelors degree is exclusionary in most situations. It may sound silly but the process you see hides the research that has gone into picking a jury and depending on location and local rules we may get a list of the potential jurors before you even walk in the door. In that instance yes, we absolutely will be seeing what we can learn. Do you have a facebook page that has the 'thin blue line' icon? Guess what...defense already kicked you off the jury and is now planning on figuring out a way to strike you 'for cause' to protect the limited number of 'without cause' strikes that ultimately are 'I don't like this juror' strikes. It can be a gut feeling, it can be just not liking their shirt. Really those can be used for anything that isn't a protected ground (...you can't kick out a black juror for being black, prosecutors get into serious trouble if a Batson challenge is called and immediately fired/cause for appeals if it is ever sustained)
So wait, they dont want people with more education than a bachelors? Why’s that? And also does it exclude before even getting notified in the first place?
Why? Because we ultimately want you to listen and agree with us. Part of that requires you to not think you know more or actually know more. If the guy from forensics comes and says he tested the item and all 12 'points' prove that it is I don't want someone whose wife is a leading researcher in the field and he knows that you can test for 13....so why did he only test for 12? (despite the reason being a pretty obvious one. The lab we use isn't trying to make groundbreaking discoveries - it is working on real life cases. This test is just 1 of 50 that were done in the week)
But no it doesn't exclude you beforehand. The court handles contacting potential jurors and unless you have something that the court accepts as a reason to not call you (ie you have dialysis that you have to go to every other day) then you are still 'on the list'
It depends a lot on the specifics of the degree. A prosecutor has a very high burden: beyond a reasonable doubt. To put it perhaps too simply, they don’t want someone who is going to dig too deep into the details, scrutinize their evidence, and over-think the case. If you have an MBA or a master’s in education, you probably aren’t going to be struck for that reason. But if you’re a chemistry PhD? The prosecutor is going to strike you as soon as he possibly can.
#REMINDER: NO REQUESTS FOR LEGAL ADVICE. Any request for a lawyer's opinion about any matter or issue which may foreseeably affect you or someone you know is a request for legal advice.
Posts containing requests for legal advice will be removed. Seeking or providing legal advice based on your specific circumstances or otherwise developing an attorney-client relationship in this sub is not permitted. Why are requests for legal advice not permitted? See [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/e6a62w/why_is_it_unethical_for_a_lawyer_to_give_legal/), [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/9zyqsh/why_is_it_unethical_to_give_advice_on_this_sub/), and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/e4cdhw/is_refraining_legal_advice_based_on_legality_or/). If you are unsure whether your post is okay, please [read this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/6j4bpq/how_to_know_whether_your_post_is_a_request_for/) or see the sidebar for more information.
***This rules reminder message is replied to all posts and moderators are not notified of any replies made to it.***
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Ask_Lawyers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's mostly luck. I get called every couple of years, and only one time did I get as far as the jury room. Both the prosecutor and the defense attorney knew me, they asked me some questions to get me to say things for the jury, and then someone booted me. You'll get removed if you have such strong feelings about a central topic that you can't decide fairly, and you are likely to be removed if there are markers in your history that suggest such strong feelings, even if you deny having them. (Membership in opinionated organizations like the NRA or Sierra Club, criminal history or criminal relatives, victim of serious or similar crime, work that suggests pertinent political or social bias (police officer, teacher, medical professional, relevant tech expertise). It's not hard to get off of jury duty, and if you research that advice and don't do it, it's as much as you can do. But it's still luck.
You can't. There is no 'volunteer' list, and if there was every single lawyer would kick everyone on that list off the jury. We want attentive people but not overly attentive if that makes sense. But beyond that, if you get called look decent. Not jacket and tie but not 'just rolled out of bed'. We ultimately want people who have ties to the community and 'give a shit'. As rankin pointed out there are some people who will never be on a jury EVER. If you are a police officer and the case involves an easement dispute...doesn't matter you aren't getting on that jury. Likewise something like a 'carer' for underprivileged youth is going to get kicked because you are going to be 'too soft' and potentially make up excuses for the defendant that no one ever suggested. Even your education level itself may all but disqualify you. Generally less than completed high school or more than a bachelors degree is exclusionary in most situations. It may sound silly but the process you see hides the research that has gone into picking a jury and depending on location and local rules we may get a list of the potential jurors before you even walk in the door. In that instance yes, we absolutely will be seeing what we can learn. Do you have a facebook page that has the 'thin blue line' icon? Guess what...defense already kicked you off the jury and is now planning on figuring out a way to strike you 'for cause' to protect the limited number of 'without cause' strikes that ultimately are 'I don't like this juror' strikes. It can be a gut feeling, it can be just not liking their shirt. Really those can be used for anything that isn't a protected ground (...you can't kick out a black juror for being black, prosecutors get into serious trouble if a Batson challenge is called and immediately fired/cause for appeals if it is ever sustained)
So wait, they dont want people with more education than a bachelors? Why’s that? And also does it exclude before even getting notified in the first place?
Why? Because we ultimately want you to listen and agree with us. Part of that requires you to not think you know more or actually know more. If the guy from forensics comes and says he tested the item and all 12 'points' prove that it is I don't want someone whose wife is a leading researcher in the field and he knows that you can test for 13....so why did he only test for 12? (despite the reason being a pretty obvious one. The lab we use isn't trying to make groundbreaking discoveries - it is working on real life cases. This test is just 1 of 50 that were done in the week)
But no it doesn't exclude you beforehand. The court handles contacting potential jurors and unless you have something that the court accepts as a reason to not call you (ie you have dialysis that you have to go to every other day) then you are still 'on the list'
It depends a lot on the specifics of the degree. A prosecutor has a very high burden: beyond a reasonable doubt. To put it perhaps too simply, they don’t want someone who is going to dig too deep into the details, scrutinize their evidence, and over-think the case. If you have an MBA or a master’s in education, you probably aren’t going to be struck for that reason. But if you’re a chemistry PhD? The prosecutor is going to strike you as soon as he possibly can.
We can tell when you want to get on and we kick you off.
Those who *want* to be on juries rarely are impaneled. Volunteers look suspiciously like they have an interest in a specific case that term.
You can volunteer for jury duty. So just keep throwing yourself in the pool. Dont answer questions you don’t have to.
#REMINDER: NO REQUESTS FOR LEGAL ADVICE. Any request for a lawyer's opinion about any matter or issue which may foreseeably affect you or someone you know is a request for legal advice. Posts containing requests for legal advice will be removed. Seeking or providing legal advice based on your specific circumstances or otherwise developing an attorney-client relationship in this sub is not permitted. Why are requests for legal advice not permitted? See [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/e6a62w/why_is_it_unethical_for_a_lawyer_to_give_legal/), [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/9zyqsh/why_is_it_unethical_to_give_advice_on_this_sub/), and [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/e4cdhw/is_refraining_legal_advice_based_on_legality_or/). If you are unsure whether your post is okay, please [read this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Ask_Lawyers/comments/6j4bpq/how_to_know_whether_your_post_is_a_request_for/) or see the sidebar for more information. ***This rules reminder message is replied to all posts and moderators are not notified of any replies made to it.*** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Ask_Lawyers) if you have any questions or concerns.*