Quote:
Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction
I think it's true that most people don't want to do jury duty. A few months ago, my wife was selected for jury duty for a BC supreme court criminal case of a trial expected to last 6-8 weeks. They only pay like $80 per day (I can't recall the exact amount as it changes the longer the trial goes, but it was certainly a lot less than her salary no matter what). In the questionnaire they sent out, she said that being on a jury would cause an undue financial burden and child care problems and she was dismissed as a candidate. It was pretty easy to get out of and I think they cast a huge net for this reason.
But we were worried that they wouldn't accept that and did some internet searching about getting out of jury duty in BC. I recall reading a thread on Reddit where some anonymous lawyers were saying it is really hard to get good juries because it pays so low. They claimed that only people who actually want to do it are retired people and chronically unemployables, as well as citizen sleuth types, so you can get quite an odd group of people. I don't know if that it completely fair because I am sure you must get the odd few people that just want to participate. Some unions have contracts with employers that ensure they still get paid their salary if on a jury, which helps some people.
In some places like California, there are actually volunteer juries where people sign up to purposely become juries. I am not sure if that would work better or not though.
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Agreed, most normal people need to work to pay bills and no one wants to blow though their savings while having to sit in a courtroom.
It is a joke with the tiny amount they allow and you even have to pay for parking or your own public transportation. Only a small number of people would willingly do this.