Comments on: With Sarah Palin around, there is no slow news day

By: Bill589

Bill589 — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:20:37 +0000

Can anyone imagine Obama being held to Palin’s standards?

He would not have even made it to his gaffes –
He would not have gotten past his ‘church’ and his ‘friends’.

By: gs

gs — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 16:13:12 +0000

gs Says: June 23rd, 2011 at 5:05 pm 1. A little googling reveals that both state and federal courts in AK allow jury duty to be excused or deferred. Just sayin’. The meaning of the word 'defer' is explained here.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:17:36 +0000

Oh, what am I saying?
With Palin, of course.

By: Richard Aubrey

Richard Aubrey — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 13:17:17 +0000

So there is a discussion about how to get out of jury duty.
Why?
Is failing to duck the job some kind of a fault?

By: J.J. formerly Jimmy J.

J.J. formerly Jimmy J. — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:43:52 +0000

I have done my time in the juror pool three times. I have always wanted to be chosen to serve because my wife has been a juror on two murder cases and she enjoyed the challenge and the chance to do her duty. I have wanted to serve as well, especially since I’ve been retired. For some dang reason the defense never wants me on the jury.

Sarah just keeps confounding the MSM with her old fashioned ways. You couldn’t write a better fictional story about a heroine who, by simply following the rules, bests her tormenters without mussing her hair. Right on!

By: Parker

Parker — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:40:52 +0000

“If she can perform half as well against America’s other enemies as she does against the media, she might not be such a bad President, methinks. Let’s face it, we’ve done worse. Lots worse.”

I have no doubts about that. Palin is tough and savvy. Anyone who can rope a dope the MSM into getting their pantyhose into such a tangled, tight bunch is capable of running rings around the likes of Obama. Palin is rough and raw and brimming over with common sense. She lacks sophistication and hypocritical duplicity, and that is why I think she is our Harry Truman. If she decides to run I’ll petition her to make Cain her running mate.

By: Gary Rosen

Gary Rosen — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 04:12:55 +0000

… and if she *had* gotten out of jury duty, gs would have nailed her for that, too. It must be fun to always be right.

By: Gringo

Gringo — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:28:36 +0000

As others have pointed out , it is often not difficult to get out of jury duty. My guess is that while Sarah Palin could have gotten out of jury duty, she chose to embrace her responsibility as a citizen. It is quite possible that after being interviewed, she will not be chosen for jury duty.

By: gs

gs — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 02:45:56 +0000

I R A Darth Aggie Says:
June 23rd, 2011 at 7:12 pm

…
Having recently filled out the juror survey for the local Federal district court, they only exemptions are: 1…2…3…

And I assert that the Alaska Federal District Court’s criteria for excuse or deferral from jury duty are, overall, materially broader than the criteria in your comment.

I propose a friendly wager to that effect, to be adjudicated by Neo. Loser donates ten bucks to this blog.

By: rickl

rickl — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:10:05 +0000

I R A Darth Aggie:
I’ve filled out the questionnaire too, and I seem to remember a provision for people who are essential to a business.

One of the problems with the justice system is that it’s so easy to be excused from jury duty. Plenty of working people and business owners manage to wangle exemptions and excusals. What’s left are disproportionately half-wit soap opera watchers, who can be easily manipulated to “stick it to the Man”.

I’ve been called for jury duty twice, once for my county and once for federal court in Philadelphia. Each time I sat in the jury pool all day and was never called in for an interview, and was excused at the end of the day.

There was one other time in the mid-90s when Comet Hyakutake was approaching. It was predicted to become unusually bright (and it sure was!). I got a summons for jury duty and I immediately thought I would be sequestered and thus unable to watch the comet. I wrote a letter to the county requesting a delay, and explained why. I made it very clear that I was not seeking an excusal and would be happy to serve in a month or two once the comet was gone. A couple of weeks later I received a form-letter postcard saying “Your request for excusal has been granted.” I guess their computer software didn’t have any provision for comets.

I think that the fear of jury duty is powered in part by the sensational trials that are covered by the media, which grind on for months with a sequestered jury. That’s certainly the image I had when I wrote that letter I mentioned. But what percentage of juries are actually sequestered during a trial? I don’t know, but I now suspect it’s pretty low.