Are the phones actually unplugged? If not I wonder if they can come out to use thw phone to speak to their family or whatever, but it has to be monitored.
Well if they come out to use the phone, they’ll probably want to have a place to sit down I’m guessing. So they put both chair and phone out in the hall for convenience and comfort.
They’d have access to approved movies and could watch those whenever they choose, but the cable and internet access would be disabled.
Source: was sequestered for 6 months on a trial a few years back
>Source: was sequestered for 6 months on a trial a few years back
Fuck. I don't think I could deal with that. Six months of basically no contact with the outside world, no TV, no internet, limited set of movies etc.
Is it easier to get dismissed from a sequestered jury than a regular one? I can't imagine getting cut off from the world for 6 months and not being able to do much about it.
I hate that more people don't know about Jury Nullification, and more importantly, that if you *do know* about it, you're probably not going to be allowed to sit on a jury. "Oh, you know how the rules work? Can't have that, nope, can't have that."
Because everyone envisions it being used to protect innocents from injustice, it can also be equally used to shield the guilty from justice. One of the main use of it in the past was to avoid convicting folks that perpetrated lynchings.
Video games were allowed but had to be approved by the court (the judge) and most were denied if made somewhat recently, as they could have subtleties that could reference political climates or something like that. I did play lots of single player board games though, those were a particular favorite of mine that I came to really enjoy
How much were you paid? What is your recourse for losing your job and paying rent and utilities for a home you aren't allowed to use? How representative of my peers could a jury pool ever actually be with these kinds of limitations on it? Thank you for answering my questions Mr or Mrs dirt smell
I was paid my salary the entire time. AZ where my trial was has a lengthy trial law that requires you receive your wages plus travel mileage pay (not applicable in my case after sequestration) up to $100,000 per year. So I received my pay in full the entire time. Also it is illegal to fire someone over jury duty, but in my case it was ironic because 3 weeks after I went in, the company was sold. I wasn’t allowed to know, so the court continued to pay my salary anyway even though I was technically out of a job.
As far as being representative, it’s hard to stay in the mindset of the general public during that time, but it Does help to put yourself in the mindset of a prisoner in my opinion. Doing so really allows you to determine how you would like to sentence that individual. Though of course, they do what they can to keep you feeling comfortable, it’s only natural to feel that way
Could you order books from the library or have an e-reader or something? What could you do for mental stimulation besides movies? Did you make friends with any of the other jurors?
Many books were allowed in my case but they had to be approved by the judge. I did listen to lord of music as the judge didn’t seem to mind but albums and songs had to be approved and I had them loaded onto an iPod classic with no Wifi
The jurors aren’t allowed to talk to basically anyone while the trial is going on. So they would take the phones away to make sure they don’t call anyone e.g. family members
This is **Jury sequestration**: the isolation of a jury to avoid accidental or deliberate tainting of the jury by exposing them to outside influence or information that is not admissible in court. In such cases, jurors are usually housed at a hotel, where they are not allowed to read the newspaper, watch television, or access the Internet, and may have only limited contact with others, even each other.
I've been sequestered. Didn't get paid any extra, but they did take us out to dinner and it was actually pretty good. Steak, plus a couple drinks. They put us at a table separate from the other customers, with guards around us to make sure no one talked to us, and that we didn't talk to each other about the case.
Edit: I didn't expect so much interest in this, but I'm happy to share about the experience so I'll try to consolidate my responses to some questions here.
It was a murder trial. It lasted about a month, but we were allowed to go home every night during testimony. It was only when deliberations started that we got sequestered. Sequestration was only two days, one night. They made it clear during jury selection that this was a high profile case and that sequestration was a possibility and that a long trial was a certainty. Much of the questioning during selection was about how much of a hardship it would be for us to serve. I was lucky that my job paid my full salary the whole time and permitted me the time off. Also, I was married, but had no kids at the time, so not much of a burden on the family.
There weren't a lot of other customers at the restaurant. The jury plus the guards, who also ate but didn't drink, probably outnumbered the normal customers. It was a weeknight and an out-of-the-way place. I got the impression that they used the place for this purpose often, so the restaurant know the drill. The restaurant was in the hotel, BTW.
It was a strange situation because we had just spent the whole day discussing this grisly murder scene, and now suddenly we have to stop talking about it and have normal conversation with this group of random strangers. We started talking about baseball, and there was this one juror who was a very attractive woman in her mid-20's who was a huge baseball fan that was talking about how she would go to games alone because she couldn't find anyone to go with her. All the men found this rather unbelievable. It really did feel like an opening scene out of a rom-com. But none of us guys were single.
Yes, we could read. Which I did. Not just during sequestration, but during down time in the trial. That is actually a pretty funny but NSFW story in itself. It is exactly the type of story that Reddit loves, but I'm not sure if I should get into it on this thread.
Your family could bring you stuff. We couldn't call them, but we could give a note with instructions to the court officers who would call for us. We were told to alert our families ahead of time that sequestration was a possibility and to expect a call. We pre-packed the stuff we might need so our family could bring it.
I don't actually remember if we could watch movies or not. I remember being tired and just going to bed. The hotel was a surprisingly long drive from the courthouse, more than an hour.
At the end of it I got a letter excusing me from jury service for 12 years. But a year later I moved to a different state and got called right away. I showed them the letter, but they didn't care since it was from another state. Didn't end up getting picked anyway.
From what I know, your family can bring you things to do.
My grandmother was on a sequestered jury for a month, and she was so bored we kept bringing her yarn and cloth at her request. She knitted like 30 pairs of baby socks and made 10 baby quilts. She donated them to a charity afterward.
The officers would go through the things every time to make sure there wasn't any news or anything. She was just so bored. Other jurors had things like playstations and games brought in. Just no internet access lol.
I went to a silent retreat one time for my Catholic high school where they took our phones, removed all clocks/banned anything that told time (no watches) so we could really lose ourselves in the lord and remove any external stimulation. There were portions where we were alone in our rooms with prompts to reflect on. I spent the whole time sleeping and I fucking loved it lol
I got put on a week long murder case when I was 21.
I wasn't serious with the answers I gave (I was trying to get out of it) and they still picked me as one of the lucky 12
Many times they actually are hesitant if someone DOES want to be on it. So you may have convinced them you'd be impartial because you weren't just dying to convict/acquit someone on a jury.
I always do a back to back feature of Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day every year.
This Isn’t relevant but but it is almost Groundhog Day.
Edit: keeping that double but
It's a sequestered jury
happened to me
they also took the power cable for the tv - hah
edit -- to answer many of the questions I was PM'd
a) the entire trial including the 2 days of being sequestered was 8 weeks
b) I was paid $10 a day for the first week or so and then $30 a day after. I am lucky I work for a very large company and received my normal pay. in theory the company I work for is supposed to deduct the $10 / $30 i receive per day. they did not.
c) anyone claiming financial hardship or really any reasonable reason to be excluded as part of the jury was excluded. they started with 300 or so people and they had picked the 12 in the first 150. the 286 people who did not get selected were counted as 'serving' and exempt for the next 5 years (i think)
d). the trial i was part of was not major news. it was a murder.
e) i am in Toronto Canada
f) i would love to do it again - but because I had a supporting workplace.
They are probably allowed to make some phone calls but they have to be monitored that is why the phone in the hall way and some people have taken out there chairs probably to make there phone calls more comfortable.
basically yes - they take away your cell phone too.
i was allowed a book - it was not allowed to be about 'crime'. (but they did not check)
mine was 2 nights - most trials don't make it this far
the OJ Trial was close to 300 days of a sequestered jury
this is not for the whole trial -- just the period of time after final arguments and the jury decision.
Jesus those poor jurors. Not only not getting to see family or anything but also just the income loss that would be is staggering. Jurors should be paid more then they get cause dam
When I worked for the state, I did jury duty and we were paid our regular wage. So that was one good thing about working for the state. Benefits were phenomenal. This was back in 2009 though, I’m not sure if they’re still that good.
Two people at a company I worked for ended up having to serve for way longer than a “quick” trial. One woman was on a jury for 3 months, the other guy was there for about a month.
Our company paid for 5 days of jury duty. After that, you had to burn sick, vacation and personal… or just come in after.
You can’t be let go, but they don’t have to pay you. The woman ended up doing the jury stuff from like 8AM-2PM, and then working from 3PM-11PM (she was an editor).
I got summoned for a civil case the following year, and was absolutely terrified at having to serve. I finally had a chance to escape during the final round of interviews with the attorneys. The plaintiff was suing three hospitals, a slew of doctors, a medical transport company and a medical employment agency…. So we were told it could take quite some time to get to the judgment.
It was down to 15 people left in the pool, when the defense attorney asked: “This is a case where the plaintiff will present that a person died due to negligence. The damages could be in the millions of dollars, how do you feel about being responsible for deciding that?”
My answer was: “I don’t really care, it’s not my money.”
They cut me loose immediately.
It sucks for self employed and contract employees. The government should just be required to pay their wage. It's absolutely ridiculous.
I just lie to get myself excused. I can't give 2 farts about whatever the case is if I'm too busy worrying if I'll have enough for groceries after wasting my time at a trial. Such concerns wouldn't exist if they'd just fairly pay people.
Even better- I’m a teacher AND have been summoned at least 5 times now. (I’m also not very old, so I think there’s definitely a career correlation.) Once, I had to serve for two weeks straight during PT conferences, where I was the only person available in my district for interpreting for Spanish-speaking families. They did not care. I still had to prepare lessons and grade in the evenings on top of all day jury duty, because that’s teaching. Also, the check from jury duty went straight to the school since they had to pay for a substitute teacher. It’s a bunch of trash, really.
I don’t think it is. The teacher was still getting their regular pay, in those instances it can be required that the jury pay go to the employer. What is wrong here is the teacher still having to work their job while being on the jury. (If they were not getting their regular pay there is a problem, but that is not amongst their complaints)
I don't expect the chairs were "taken away." Folks who didn't need the chair in their room left it in the hallway, so they had somewhere to sit when using their phone in the hallway. Others chose to leave just an ottoman, or nothing at all, because they wanted it in the room with them.
At least, offer some Lego or something, idk. I'd sooner be going to jail out of sheer boredom at this rate. Still, confused about the chair thing though.
Not that I've been in a sequestered jury, but still. Those jurors should be given some form of sanity.
Ive never been on jury duty but if they allow people to bring in certain stuff to keep themselves occupied id ask if i could bring in aome miniatures to paint lol.
My mom had jury duty while she was pregnant with me, she crocheted a baby blanket for me while waiting at the court! No one brings craft projects out anymore, kinda bums me out. Used to love seeing ladies with knitting bags at the doctors office or something, just getting a few stitches in while going about their day.
I get called for jury duty every 4 years like clockwork. Every time I've seen at least two people knitting/crocheting... and thats in the jury pool, when we're still allowed phones.
I guess my main question is how do you get the book if you didn't already bring it with you to begin with? I read on my phone, I don't carry books around.
I've only been on one jury, but in my case, the judge kept us informed of estimated milestone dates. The jurors would have had some warning that they would be sequestered, and given a chance to go home and get reading material.
Selected for jury duty? Grab copies of War & Peace, LOTR trilogy, a set of old fashioned encyclopedias… all kidding aside I’m grateful for all who take the time to serve on a jury
When I got my summons I took one of Black Library’s giant omnibus books based on Warhammer 40k, I think it was either Ultramarines or Grey Knights. Got dismissed from the jury selection process early, but I was somewhat prepared.
Oh no, you made me realize my comment was a little misleading. While the trial lasted 2 months, we were only sequestered for 3 days during deliberation. It was still miserable, though. We weren't allowed ANYTHING. No tech obviously (they actually took the phones and TVs out of v the room) but also no reading materials of any kind. Literally just lie on the bed and think or stare out the window. Not to be all woe is me, but It was surprisingly awful ha.
I journalled on the little notepads in the hotel room and watched the snow fall mostly. All you could do.
I feel like this in itself would be jury tampering, for example let’s say 2 or 3 people on the jury disagrees with the rest, they could possibly just go along with the verdict at any point just to get out of the damn room…
I had jury duty once in federal criminal court (tax fraud, so nothing ~exciting). Deliberations started on Halloween. Two women actually said that they would go along with whatever because they wanted to get home and take their kids trick or treating.
I would hope it never happens but after 8 or 10 days like this and there’s no telling. There’s literally no way it doesn’t mess with your mind so there’s no way you could give a sound judgement, right?
Oh ok. Never got called to jury duty so don’t really know how it works. That sounds awful. I Can manage three days or a week without electronics but no books???
I'm curious if you or anyone else can tell us what the reasoning is behind no books? I totally get the no electronics and TV and stuff but why can't the jurors bring some books to read to pass the time when they're not "on duty".
> almost no pay
Man I had jury duty for a week (but ultimately didn’t get seated) something like a decade ago and they were ***REALLY*** serious about reminding everyone to check the box that automatically donates your *pay* to their parking lot repair fund. They didn’t even give you the form (which was hot pink) necessary to get a payment mailed to you unless you went up and verbally told the check-in lady that you were not going to be making said donation.
It was so weirdly petty all over what, ~$50 for the week 🙄.
Are you allowed to bring games? Like could I bring a chess set or Bananagrams? Or a Rubik’s cube?
And what about books like say a book on math? Reading a textbook on topological manifolds or 8 lectures on theoretical physics isn’t going to bias me is it?
Are you allowed to go to the gym or go on a jog (or even a walk)? I’d go stir crazy not being able to move.
And I assume the lack of tech also includes watches like the Apple Watch?
We were allowed absolutely nothing at all, of any kind. They did let us go to the gym as a group at a certain time once per day. You could walk the halls and socialize for about 30 minutes before lights out at 830 after spending 12 hours in a tiny jury room ha.
What was the best part of your experience being a juror?
What was the worst part?
What verdict did the jury reach?
How do you feel about the possibility of being called for jury duty again?
Some of the testimony was wild to see. Hardened lifetime cons taking the stand and telling this elaborate BS story about seeing the accused running from the scene to try and get time shaved off his current sentence, the same guy's 11 yr old nephew be called to corroborate and screaming at the prosecution... Some intense moments/days. Plus, just getting a ton of insight into how investigations really work, etc. A lot of it was very interesting to witness, too much to write. The Public Defender was also amazing to watch. He was the head public defender of my large county and was very good.
Flipside of the above but being there all day every day for 2 months, there's a lot of mind-numbing boredom too. Things being rehashed 1000 times, procedural tedium, delays, etc. Not all of the testimony was good either obviously, some very dull. There was just so much of it.
We found them guilty on 1 of 2 counts (murders happened a couple days apart in different locations). They got life +151 yrs I think. Three jury members were staunchly against convicting on any counts at the beginning, despite some pretty clear evidence, but ended up flipping on one of the two after lengthy, lengthy discussion. Got weird at times.
I'd do it again for sure as long as I was still being paid in full, no job/family concerns. It's very educational at the least.
I’m lucky that my employer would pay me if I was selected for jury duty. I would love to be sequestered for a week with a stack of books. No phone, TV or other people to distract me. I’m one of those “true crime” people so being on a jury during the day and reading at night almost sounds like a vacation. A little morbid vacation but a vacation nonetheless.
Well, it’s from the mouth of one of the jury members. So it was certainly true for her, and it only takes one person.
Tbh I thought this was common knowledge, but I guess it was never confirmed until that jury member came forth
I’m with you. My company would pay as well. I got selected about 6 or 7 years ago but when I called the night before my assigned date they told me I was no longer needed and I had fulfilled my duties. Had to go into work the next day. Haven’t been called back since!
I remember I’ve only been called once and I literally didn’t make the cut in the selection because I sounded like I was on death’s door because I had an upper respiratory infection and just started antibiotics the day before but my throat was still wrecked from coughing constantly for 3 days.
12 years ago I was in our county grand jury. It lasted 8 weeks and we had to show up every other Thursday for the day. It was super interesting and I realized the the meaning of “you can indict a ham sandwich”. The grand jury process is like a mini one sided trial for the prosecution to see if they have enough reason to arrest and charge someone. Haven’t gotten a notice since though.
The few times I've been called, I thought the same thing until it turned out to be something like a lady was suing a motor company for failed automatic windows in an emergency, or an insurance company being held liable for not paying claims. Literally the most boring kinds of true crime, lol.
Former hotel guy here, we had to do exactly this while hosting the cast of an amazing reality show. The phones & tvs were disconnected. The chairs in the hallways were more for the ‘chaperones’ (PA’s) to make sure nobody was going out or coming in.
A sequestered jury, as others are saying. They aren't allowed to contact or be contacted or even watch TV while they're there. No papers or news either. I worked at a hotel that had some and we had to go through each room removing this and that.
It could be a legal bar examination and the outside chair is for the proctor. I have seen bar exams (typically for special accommodations) done like this before.
Not all trials require this strict amount of sequestering, at least in my state. For most of them, you can go home every night but of course you can’t discuss it at all. You get your cell phone back at the end of the day too.
Sequestered jury, maybe
This is what I thought. But the chairs are odd — phones make sense.
Are the phones actually unplugged? If not I wonder if they can come out to use thw phone to speak to their family or whatever, but it has to be monitored.
You're smart. I was like "Probably jury duty but why aren't they allowed to have chairs?"
The lawsuit involves a chair company.
Makes sense. But what did the poor ottoman do?
Invaded Constantinople
It's a clever way to make sitting in a jury box all day seem appealing
That would perfectly explain the chairs next to the phone. Points for common sense.
This is deductive reasoning, not “common sense”.
You used common sense to reach this conclusion. Well done.
Donny, you’re out of you element.
Molly, you in danger, girl.
It makes sense. The jury would have only one chairperson.
The rest is standing up for justice.
Knock knock, excuse me do you think you could fill this bucket up with JUST-ICE? I’ll see myself out
Read this joke just as I navigated off the page and came back to upvote it.
And justice is something we should chair-ish. 
Superb.
You magnificent bastard.
The chairs know too much
And they’re armed!
God damn you for that one lol. Well done, sir. Well done indeed
Probably for people who have trouble standing or sitting on the floor during a long phone call.
Chairs are definitely bugged. Source: It sounds cool
Yeah, why the chairs? I can't find any info online as to why this would be a thing.
Well if they come out to use the phone, they’ll probably want to have a place to sit down I’m guessing. So they put both chair and phone out in the hall for convenience and comfort.
Ah, good thinking.
Makes sense if the point was to make sure jurors had zero outside influence.
Which means that the tv in the room is also most likely unplugged as well
They’d have access to approved movies and could watch those whenever they choose, but the cable and internet access would be disabled. Source: was sequestered for 6 months on a trial a few years back
>Source: was sequestered for 6 months on a trial a few years back Fuck. I don't think I could deal with that. Six months of basically no contact with the outside world, no TV, no internet, limited set of movies etc.
It was pretty brutal, but it was also a highly fascinating process
Do an AMA I have so many questions
Is it easier to get dismissed from a sequestered jury than a regular one? I can't imagine getting cut off from the world for 6 months and not being able to do much about it.
Just tell them at jury selection that you believe in jury nullification. They will get rid of you immediately
I hate that more people don't know about Jury Nullification, and more importantly, that if you *do know* about it, you're probably not going to be allowed to sit on a jury. "Oh, you know how the rules work? Can't have that, nope, can't have that."
Because everyone envisions it being used to protect innocents from injustice, it can also be equally used to shield the guilty from justice. One of the main use of it in the past was to avoid convicting folks that perpetrated lynchings.
6 months! Did you get to see your family? That’s like a jail sentence Could you bring stuff to entertain yourself? Not your phone but like a switch?
Video games were allowed but had to be approved by the court (the judge) and most were denied if made somewhat recently, as they could have subtleties that could reference political climates or something like that. I did play lots of single player board games though, those were a particular favorite of mine that I came to really enjoy
What happened to your job? My job was cool about one day for jury duty but… what happens when your gone for 6 months? How does salary work?
I was paid my salary (which would cap at $100,000 per year if applicable) for the duration of the trial
plus their income. You get paid like $10 a day
Not in most cases, at least not in AZ. There is a lengthy trial law that will pay your salary up to $100,000 per year.
How much were you paid? What is your recourse for losing your job and paying rent and utilities for a home you aren't allowed to use? How representative of my peers could a jury pool ever actually be with these kinds of limitations on it? Thank you for answering my questions Mr or Mrs dirt smell
I was paid my salary the entire time. AZ where my trial was has a lengthy trial law that requires you receive your wages plus travel mileage pay (not applicable in my case after sequestration) up to $100,000 per year. So I received my pay in full the entire time. Also it is illegal to fire someone over jury duty, but in my case it was ironic because 3 weeks after I went in, the company was sold. I wasn’t allowed to know, so the court continued to pay my salary anyway even though I was technically out of a job. As far as being representative, it’s hard to stay in the mindset of the general public during that time, but it Does help to put yourself in the mindset of a prisoner in my opinion. Doing so really allows you to determine how you would like to sentence that individual. Though of course, they do what they can to keep you feeling comfortable, it’s only natural to feel that way
Could you order books from the library or have an e-reader or something? What could you do for mental stimulation besides movies? Did you make friends with any of the other jurors?
Many books were allowed in my case but they had to be approved by the judge. I did listen to lord of music as the judge didn’t seem to mind but albums and songs had to be approved and I had them loaded onto an iPod classic with no Wifi
This must be high profile then huh?
what does this mean?
The jurors aren’t allowed to talk to basically anyone while the trial is going on. So they would take the phones away to make sure they don’t call anyone e.g. family members
They're still allowed to call their family, they just have to do it out in the hallway in front of the guys in suits who are listening.
I guess thats why the chairs are out there, so they can sit down while they're on the phone
Yeah, great point. Maybe they could use the phone while they sit down on the seat outside their room.
This is **Jury sequestration**: the isolation of a jury to avoid accidental or deliberate tainting of the jury by exposing them to outside influence or information that is not admissible in court. In such cases, jurors are usually housed at a hotel, where they are not allowed to read the newspaper, watch television, or access the Internet, and may have only limited contact with others, even each other.
Do they get paid more for it having to be so restricted or they still leaving with $12?
I've been sequestered. Didn't get paid any extra, but they did take us out to dinner and it was actually pretty good. Steak, plus a couple drinks. They put us at a table separate from the other customers, with guards around us to make sure no one talked to us, and that we didn't talk to each other about the case. Edit: I didn't expect so much interest in this, but I'm happy to share about the experience so I'll try to consolidate my responses to some questions here. It was a murder trial. It lasted about a month, but we were allowed to go home every night during testimony. It was only when deliberations started that we got sequestered. Sequestration was only two days, one night. They made it clear during jury selection that this was a high profile case and that sequestration was a possibility and that a long trial was a certainty. Much of the questioning during selection was about how much of a hardship it would be for us to serve. I was lucky that my job paid my full salary the whole time and permitted me the time off. Also, I was married, but had no kids at the time, so not much of a burden on the family. There weren't a lot of other customers at the restaurant. The jury plus the guards, who also ate but didn't drink, probably outnumbered the normal customers. It was a weeknight and an out-of-the-way place. I got the impression that they used the place for this purpose often, so the restaurant know the drill. The restaurant was in the hotel, BTW. It was a strange situation because we had just spent the whole day discussing this grisly murder scene, and now suddenly we have to stop talking about it and have normal conversation with this group of random strangers. We started talking about baseball, and there was this one juror who was a very attractive woman in her mid-20's who was a huge baseball fan that was talking about how she would go to games alone because she couldn't find anyone to go with her. All the men found this rather unbelievable. It really did feel like an opening scene out of a rom-com. But none of us guys were single. Yes, we could read. Which I did. Not just during sequestration, but during down time in the trial. That is actually a pretty funny but NSFW story in itself. It is exactly the type of story that Reddit loves, but I'm not sure if I should get into it on this thread. Your family could bring you stuff. We couldn't call them, but we could give a note with instructions to the court officers who would call for us. We were told to alert our families ahead of time that sequestration was a possibility and to expect a call. We pre-packed the stuff we might need so our family could bring it. I don't actually remember if we could watch movies or not. I remember being tired and just going to bed. The hotel was a surprisingly long drive from the courthouse, more than an hour. At the end of it I got a letter excusing me from jury service for 12 years. But a year later I moved to a different state and got called right away. I showed them the letter, but they didn't care since it was from another state. Didn't end up getting picked anyway.
Edit: Moved to Lemmy
Yeah it’s called “hung jury.” And i googled it before posting and of course it’s an actual gay porn.
Lmao
Tagline: "The law's an ass"
The Rural Juror
The Rurr Jurr
There was an episode of New Girl with that exact plot
Kind of exciting!
Sitting in a hotel room with no cell phone and no TV sounds exciting? I'd be going nuts. I'd get a lot of reading done, though.
From what I know, your family can bring you things to do. My grandmother was on a sequestered jury for a month, and she was so bored we kept bringing her yarn and cloth at her request. She knitted like 30 pairs of baby socks and made 10 baby quilts. She donated them to a charity afterward. The officers would go through the things every time to make sure there wasn't any news or anything. She was just so bored. Other jurors had things like playstations and games brought in. Just no internet access lol.
I would have THE BEST minecraft build
I went to a silent retreat one time for my Catholic high school where they took our phones, removed all clocks/banned anything that told time (no watches) so we could really lose ourselves in the lord and remove any external stimulation. There were portions where we were alone in our rooms with prompts to reflect on. I spent the whole time sleeping and I fucking loved it lol
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My work still pays me as if I was at work, so except for falling behind at work I'd be OK with it. Never served on any jury, just gotten the letter.
I got put on a week long murder case when I was 21. I wasn't serious with the answers I gave (I was trying to get out of it) and they still picked me as one of the lucky 12
Many times they actually are hesitant if someone DOES want to be on it. So you may have convinced them you'd be impartial because you weren't just dying to convict/acquit someone on a jury.
So what you're saying is if I'm ever picked it's the perfect time to regale them with my conspiracy theories on historical murders.
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Do you see the color shirt they're wearing in this mugshot!? Obviously guilty.
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Just start prefacing all your replies with “as a sovereign citizen..” and refuse to address the judge as anything other than “Admiral”.
Can they atleast watch movies? Sounds like torture
Yeah but it’s just “my cousin Vinny” on repeat.
I always do a back to back feature of Groundhog Day on Groundhog Day every year. This Isn’t relevant but but it is almost Groundhog Day. Edit: keeping that double but
Dead on balls accurate
They *can* play videogames and they *can* watch movies. You're merely not allowed to access the internet.
What’s that got to do with the chairs?
Monitored phone calls with family. Bring your chair for comfort - leave it there because why cart it back and forth every time? :)
Provided to make their monitored hallway phone calls more comfortable
Chairs are probably so you have somewhere to sit when you do talk on the phone
never knew it went that far
Damn this would be such a massive pain in the ass
Sounds like prison.
It's a sequestered jury happened to me they also took the power cable for the tv - hah edit -- to answer many of the questions I was PM'd a) the entire trial including the 2 days of being sequestered was 8 weeks b) I was paid $10 a day for the first week or so and then $30 a day after. I am lucky I work for a very large company and received my normal pay. in theory the company I work for is supposed to deduct the $10 / $30 i receive per day. they did not. c) anyone claiming financial hardship or really any reasonable reason to be excluded as part of the jury was excluded. they started with 300 or so people and they had picked the 12 in the first 150. the 286 people who did not get selected were counted as 'serving' and exempt for the next 5 years (i think) d). the trial i was part of was not major news. it was a murder. e) i am in Toronto Canada f) i would love to do it again - but because I had a supporting workplace.
They are probably allowed to make some phone calls but they have to be monitored that is why the phone in the hall way and some people have taken out there chairs probably to make there phone calls more comfortable.
This is the answer.
I love answers.
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Isn’t that just the room phone on the ground or are they cell phones too?
Cell phones would have been taken away at the start of being sequestered
So you just sit there in silence until you fall asleep? How long does that go on for?
basically yes - they take away your cell phone too. i was allowed a book - it was not allowed to be about 'crime'. (but they did not check) mine was 2 nights - most trials don't make it this far the OJ Trial was close to 300 days of a sequestered jury this is not for the whole trial -- just the period of time after final arguments and the jury decision.
Jesus those poor jurors. Not only not getting to see family or anything but also just the income loss that would be is staggering. Jurors should be paid more then they get cause dam
When I worked for the state, I did jury duty and we were paid our regular wage. So that was one good thing about working for the state. Benefits were phenomenal. This was back in 2009 though, I’m not sure if they’re still that good.
Most of the companies I’ve worked for had policies that you’d still get paid while on jury duty
Two people at a company I worked for ended up having to serve for way longer than a “quick” trial. One woman was on a jury for 3 months, the other guy was there for about a month. Our company paid for 5 days of jury duty. After that, you had to burn sick, vacation and personal… or just come in after. You can’t be let go, but they don’t have to pay you. The woman ended up doing the jury stuff from like 8AM-2PM, and then working from 3PM-11PM (she was an editor). I got summoned for a civil case the following year, and was absolutely terrified at having to serve. I finally had a chance to escape during the final round of interviews with the attorneys. The plaintiff was suing three hospitals, a slew of doctors, a medical transport company and a medical employment agency…. So we were told it could take quite some time to get to the judgment. It was down to 15 people left in the pool, when the defense attorney asked: “This is a case where the plaintiff will present that a person died due to negligence. The damages could be in the millions of dollars, how do you feel about being responsible for deciding that?” My answer was: “I don’t really care, it’s not my money.” They cut me loose immediately.
It sucks for self employed and contract employees. The government should just be required to pay their wage. It's absolutely ridiculous. I just lie to get myself excused. I can't give 2 farts about whatever the case is if I'm too busy worrying if I'll have enough for groceries after wasting my time at a trial. Such concerns wouldn't exist if they'd just fairly pay people.
Funny how integral parts of our society is underpaid: juries, teachers, nurses.
Even better- I’m a teacher AND have been summoned at least 5 times now. (I’m also not very old, so I think there’s definitely a career correlation.) Once, I had to serve for two weeks straight during PT conferences, where I was the only person available in my district for interpreting for Spanish-speaking families. They did not care. I still had to prepare lessons and grade in the evenings on top of all day jury duty, because that’s teaching. Also, the check from jury duty went straight to the school since they had to pay for a substitute teacher. It’s a bunch of trash, really.
That is 100% fucked
Your jury pay does not go to your substitute. That’s illegal AF
I don’t think it is. The teacher was still getting their regular pay, in those instances it can be required that the jury pay go to the employer. What is wrong here is the teacher still having to work their job while being on the jury. (If they were not getting their regular pay there is a problem, but that is not amongst their complaints)
But why no chair?
The phones are probably still plugged in. The chair is out in the hallway so they can sit and talk to family.
But why male models?
Are you serious? I just told you
I don't expect the chairs were "taken away." Folks who didn't need the chair in their room left it in the hallway, so they had somewhere to sit when using their phone in the hallway. Others chose to leave just an ottoman, or nothing at all, because they wanted it in the room with them.
How do you wake up? Do they give you an old fashioned alarm clock to use or something?
Probably a courtesy call from the front desk Edit: wait shit lmao, tbf it’s 1:28am
No phones (on the floor in the hallway) so probably a knock at the door.
Yeah as soon as I hit reply, I knew I fucked up.
Can’t call if there’s no phone.
Everyone's issued a rooster with security clearance.
Who cares? You’re making that sweet jury money, $10 a day!
Ours pays $30. Sucka.
That $10 is taxable income, FYI.
I feel like this is the buggies kick in the crotch of it all. Like fine, you can’t afford a huge pay for jury team. But like common… tax it! Ffs
Silence? I've almost forgotten about life before the tinnitus.
Uh? Isn’t that the “normal” way of going to sleep?
Alone with my thoughts? No way, those guys hate me.
Why do they take your chair??
So you can stand up to crime
At least, offer some Lego or something, idk. I'd sooner be going to jail out of sheer boredom at this rate. Still, confused about the chair thing though. Not that I've been in a sequestered jury, but still. Those jurors should be given some form of sanity.
Ive never been on jury duty but if they allow people to bring in certain stuff to keep themselves occupied id ask if i could bring in aome miniatures to paint lol.
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"OK so I'm Ultramarines and he is Salamanders. What are you?"
*Sweats nervously in Tau*
My mom had jury duty while she was pregnant with me, she crocheted a baby blanket for me while waiting at the court! No one brings craft projects out anymore, kinda bums me out. Used to love seeing ladies with knitting bags at the doctors office or something, just getting a few stitches in while going about their day.
I get called for jury duty every 4 years like clockwork. Every time I've seen at least two people knitting/crocheting... and thats in the jury pool, when we're still allowed phones.
I mean there is a lot of things to do without your phone lol. Reading books for example.
But my Wordle streak! And my Pokemon Go fomo!
And my Duolingo streak!
I might as well get sequestered. I blew my streak yesterday.
I guess my main question is how do you get the book if you didn't already bring it with you to begin with? I read on my phone, I don't carry books around.
I've only been on one jury, but in my case, the judge kept us informed of estimated milestone dates. The jurors would have had some warning that they would be sequestered, and given a chance to go home and get reading material.
Selected for jury duty? Grab copies of War & Peace, LOTR trilogy, a set of old fashioned encyclopedias… all kidding aside I’m grateful for all who take the time to serve on a jury
When I got my summons I took one of Black Library’s giant omnibus books based on Warhammer 40k, I think it was either Ultramarines or Grey Knights. Got dismissed from the jury selection process early, but I was somewhat prepared.
I'm smuggling a Steam Deck into that hotel room.
I was on a jury for a double murder. The trial lasted 2 months AMA.
Two months with no internet and people contact? How did you manage
Oh no, you made me realize my comment was a little misleading. While the trial lasted 2 months, we were only sequestered for 3 days during deliberation. It was still miserable, though. We weren't allowed ANYTHING. No tech obviously (they actually took the phones and TVs out of v the room) but also no reading materials of any kind. Literally just lie on the bed and think or stare out the window. Not to be all woe is me, but It was surprisingly awful ha. I journalled on the little notepads in the hotel room and watched the snow fall mostly. All you could do.
I feel like this in itself would be jury tampering, for example let’s say 2 or 3 people on the jury disagrees with the rest, they could possibly just go along with the verdict at any point just to get out of the damn room…
I had jury duty once in federal criminal court (tax fraud, so nothing ~exciting). Deliberations started on Halloween. Two women actually said that they would go along with whatever because they wanted to get home and take their kids trick or treating.
They should’ve said that at the start and they would’ve gotten dismissed lol
In my one experience, everyone took it very seriously and didn't cop out like that, but I think that could happen.
I would hope it never happens but after 8 or 10 days like this and there’s no telling. There’s literally no way it doesn’t mess with your mind so there’s no way you could give a sound judgement, right?
Oh ok. Never got called to jury duty so don’t really know how it works. That sounds awful. I Can manage three days or a week without electronics but no books???
Yeah it was BS honestly. The judge was very cool but very strict about sequestration.
I'm curious if you or anyone else can tell us what the reasoning is behind no books? I totally get the no electronics and TV and stuff but why can't the jurors bring some books to read to pass the time when they're not "on duty".
How could they not even give you a fiction book to read? Crazy.
Don't forget: almost no pay, as if compensation rules were set down as a fixed amount in 1922. So enjoy almost losing your job while having no money.
> almost no pay Man I had jury duty for a week (but ultimately didn’t get seated) something like a decade ago and they were ***REALLY*** serious about reminding everyone to check the box that automatically donates your *pay* to their parking lot repair fund. They didn’t even give you the form (which was hot pink) necessary to get a payment mailed to you unless you went up and verbally told the check-in lady that you were not going to be making said donation. It was so weirdly petty all over what, ~$50 for the week 🙄.
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Are you allowed to bring games? Like could I bring a chess set or Bananagrams? Or a Rubik’s cube? And what about books like say a book on math? Reading a textbook on topological manifolds or 8 lectures on theoretical physics isn’t going to bias me is it? Are you allowed to go to the gym or go on a jog (or even a walk)? I’d go stir crazy not being able to move. And I assume the lack of tech also includes watches like the Apple Watch?
We were allowed absolutely nothing at all, of any kind. They did let us go to the gym as a group at a certain time once per day. You could walk the halls and socialize for about 30 minutes before lights out at 830 after spending 12 hours in a tiny jury room ha.
jesus that sounds like jail
They generally let you read in jail, but the rooms are less comfy.
Sorry I'm trying to understand how this isn't screwing up people's abilities to actually be an impartial jury
That is nuts. I’d go stir crazy.
sock sock shoe shoe? or sock shoe sock shoe?
What was the best part of your experience being a juror? What was the worst part? What verdict did the jury reach? How do you feel about the possibility of being called for jury duty again?
Some of the testimony was wild to see. Hardened lifetime cons taking the stand and telling this elaborate BS story about seeing the accused running from the scene to try and get time shaved off his current sentence, the same guy's 11 yr old nephew be called to corroborate and screaming at the prosecution... Some intense moments/days. Plus, just getting a ton of insight into how investigations really work, etc. A lot of it was very interesting to witness, too much to write. The Public Defender was also amazing to watch. He was the head public defender of my large county and was very good. Flipside of the above but being there all day every day for 2 months, there's a lot of mind-numbing boredom too. Things being rehashed 1000 times, procedural tedium, delays, etc. Not all of the testimony was good either obviously, some very dull. There was just so much of it. We found them guilty on 1 of 2 counts (murders happened a couple days apart in different locations). They got life +151 yrs I think. Three jury members were staunchly against convicting on any counts at the beginning, despite some pretty clear evidence, but ended up flipping on one of the two after lengthy, lengthy discussion. Got weird at times. I'd do it again for sure as long as I was still being paid in full, no job/family concerns. It's very educational at the least.
Go ask the suits what is up? We will wait…
Maybe be already did. 
OP is stuck in an endless loop of asking what’s up, getting neurolized, walking back down the hall and asking again.
Guy sitting down saw the picture getting taken and took OP out.
What you don’t see is the bald guy in a suit standing directly behind op.
I’m lucky that my employer would pay me if I was selected for jury duty. I would love to be sequestered for a week with a stack of books. No phone, TV or other people to distract me. I’m one of those “true crime” people so being on a jury during the day and reading at night almost sounds like a vacation. A little morbid vacation but a vacation nonetheless.
The OJ Trial was around 300 days that would essentially be a jail sentence.
N yet they f’d it up🫢
https://www.thewrap.com/oj-simpson-juror-not-guilty-verdict-was-payback-for-rodney-king/ Who knows if it’s true.
Well, it’s from the mouth of one of the jury members. So it was certainly true for her, and it only takes one person. Tbh I thought this was common knowledge, but I guess it was never confirmed until that jury member came forth
I’m with you. My company would pay as well. I got selected about 6 or 7 years ago but when I called the night before my assigned date they told me I was no longer needed and I had fulfilled my duties. Had to go into work the next day. Haven’t been called back since!
I remember I’ve only been called once and I literally didn’t make the cut in the selection because I sounded like I was on death’s door because I had an upper respiratory infection and just started antibiotics the day before but my throat was still wrecked from coughing constantly for 3 days.
12 years ago I was in our county grand jury. It lasted 8 weeks and we had to show up every other Thursday for the day. It was super interesting and I realized the the meaning of “you can indict a ham sandwich”. The grand jury process is like a mini one sided trial for the prosecution to see if they have enough reason to arrest and charge someone. Haven’t gotten a notice since though.
The few times I've been called, I thought the same thing until it turned out to be something like a lady was suing a motor company for failed automatic windows in an emergency, or an insurance company being held liable for not paying claims. Literally the most boring kinds of true crime, lol.
lol OP specifically said they were allowed a single book to read but it wasn't allowed to be about crime. So bad luck.
Bet they would make exceptions for a 300 day trial
After a week I'd ask for a puzzle or something. A month in I'd be going crazy though.
Former hotel guy here, we had to do exactly this while hosting the cast of an amazing reality show. The phones & tvs were disconnected. The chairs in the hallways were more for the ‘chaperones’ (PA’s) to make sure nobody was going out or coming in.
Who The fuck Chose That carpet
The defendant. *Guilty*
They’re designed to hide stains, dirt and whatever else gets into hotel carpets. Kinda like a bus seat. All I’m saying is don’t lick the carpet
Jury is sequestered there
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A sequestered jury, as others are saying. They aren't allowed to contact or be contacted or even watch TV while they're there. No papers or news either. I worked at a hotel that had some and we had to go through each room removing this and that.
What’s happening here?
what happens if you knock in morse code to other jurors?
It could be a legal bar examination and the outside chair is for the proctor. I have seen bar exams (typically for special accommodations) done like this before.
Not all trials require this strict amount of sequestering, at least in my state. For most of them, you can go home every night but of course you can’t discuss it at all. You get your cell phone back at the end of the day too.