🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <309e7c98.0208091319.2baa4b6b@posting.google.com>, 
deja_bhoot2000@yahoo.com says...
>
>I live in the southern most part of Alameda County in the SF Bay Area, 
and
>today I received a Jury Summons for jury duty in OAKLAND.
>
>Here are the problems:
>
>1. My wife and I have an infant, and we have only 1 car. Wife commutes 
to
>the silicon valley. I bike to my job in the same town we live in. No 
local
>bus service. The only way to go got jury duty will be to (a) take a cab; 
or
>(b) a cab to Bart, and Bart to Oakland, and then walk to courthouse.
>
>2. I am a so called exempt employee at work (i.e., no overtime etc).
>While employer will give time off for Jury Duty, when I get back, I 
would
>have to finish all the accumulated work (plus more, as people not 
present
>in meetings always get assigned extra work!). And there will not be any
>overtime or anything.
>
>3. Oakland is basically a place to be avoided: most areas are filthy,
>dirty, stink; drug dealing and shooting is rampant. They have had about
>100 murders already this year.
>
>Are these valid reasons to get excused?

Probably not.

Present them to the court, though, and see what they say.  Court
authorities may prefer someone without baggage on their juries.

>And why is the compensation so ridiculous: 15 cents a mile ONE WAY ONLY,
>and ZERO for the first day, $15 for additional days. So, 5 days of jury
>service means $60 for 40 hours -- $1.50/hour, less than 1/5 of the
>California MINIMUM wage! This in a CAPITALIST country ... legislators 
pay
>themselves 100 times that amount!!

They also set the compensation levels for jurists.

Draw your own conclusions.

(Not to be stuffy, but I feel I should point out that millions
have fought, suffered, and died so you can have the right of
trial and the associated responsibility of jury duty.  And
that there are many others in this world who would give their
lives - and do - because they DON'T have that right.

Under those circumstances, your problems don't seem THAT 
large, do they?)

FW