We came across the below video on the Miami Dade Courts Instagram page- one of our first forays into or on to Instagram, which the regulars call IG.
A few thoughts. This clearly applies to only to state court cases. Because of this little snippet "The judge and attorneys ask questions to see if you can be fair to both sides..." Ummm...not often in court that bear the great seal of the United States. But then we did a little research and found that the video was produced by NCSC which is the National Center for State Courts.
So what would the fictional National Center for Federal Courts video say?
"You will be summoned to federal court to serve on a jury. Woe to those of you who do not show up. No matter how complicated and complex the case, the judge will ask some very basic questions about whether you have heard of the case, what you do for a living, and whether, in finding the defendant guilty, you can promise to do so in a fair and impartial manner."
Anyway, IG is a weird place, and who knew the Miami Dade Courts had their own IG page?
Maybe they can get Kim Kardashian to do a post.
I watched the tape. Funny how the cartoon has 9 jurors. Other than that, I see and hear nothing that is objectionable to me.
ReplyDeleteNo one EVER gets in trouble with the court, judge or law enforcement for failing to appear for jury duty!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI was once in Mag court and they had Marshalls bring in people who failed to appear for federal jury duty. No, not in cuffs but, each came in an apologized. It was a very strange calendar.
ReplyDeleteHow do they know you had proper notice? State has no enforcement abilities but feds will go to your house.
ReplyDeleteLawyers often try to get out of jury duty, although it is a great way to get a glimpse of that important but mostly non-public part of trials.
ReplyDeleteHaving served on juries in both state and federal court, I think that state court lawyers in criminal cases waste a lot of time badgering veniremen [potential jurors] on "reasonable doubt" and other arcane phrases which will have no meaning for jurors until they hear the evidence and receive the jury instructions. The toughest part I had was to stay awake during the reading of the jury instructions.
Too bad the video tries to give info for all states (as by showing 9 jurors). Why not develop one for Miami-Dade, or at least for Florida statewide? Also, unless they only show this at RGB, the video incorrectly speaks only about criminal cases (guilty/not guilty signs, e.g.).