How does everyone view our current jury system? Citizens of this country are supposidely obligated to participate in jury duty (unless one has a valid reason to be excused) when called upon by the state. In an “ideal” libertarian society, there would be no juries (which sounds like an excellent start to me). Isn’t it true that (particularly in a Rothbardian sense) independent arbiters would replace judges and juries to settle civil and criminal matters?
Certainly the current jury system enslaves the jurors. It also scrapes the bottom of the barrel for jurors, as well as allows judges to bully the jurors with unconstitutional instructions.
I think that Rothbard advocated a professional jury system, in much the same way that judges and arbiters would be professionals. I could be misremembering.
Any volunteer jury system would be compatible with a stateless society. However, I find the idea of professional juries to be the most sophisticated solution, thus I am an Ancap.
Rothbard also claimed that paying a market wage to jurors would significantly increase the pool so they probably wouldn’t have to coerce people into performing their ‘obligation’.
I know I’m not about to go spend a day/week/month for $5 a day if they ever sucessfully track me down to hand deliver a summons…which apparently they are attempting to do as I didn’t show up for the last two requests for my forced labor and so sent someone to the parents house as that’s my ‘legal’ address looking for me.
I really need to get a post office box so they can hang out there waiting for someone to come home instead of bugging my parents as one is required to have an address for the various State permissions to be valid.
I have been called in several times but never had to actually serve on a jury. Here is my plan: If a letter arrives I will not open it and place a “return to sender” on it and throw it back in the mailbox. I am surprised that someone actually showed up to deliver a summons! The post office box is a great idea!
Does the state actually lock citizens up for not showing up? I just have never heard of anyone who has been arrested for avoiding jury duty. But I understand that they can do a lot of threatening.
When I was in college about 10 years ago, I was called in for jury duty. By the end of the first day they had not finished picking who would serve for a particular big corporation case. The judge then said: “Everyone back on Monday.” But I had some important classes to attend (Yes, I valued my education). So I simply walked up to the judge when everyone else left the room and I told him that I did not want to miss anymore classes.
The judge was cool. He calls in the lawyers (about 7 on the defense team) and prosecutor and he asked them if “this young man can be dismissed from jury duty to attend his classes.”
The lawyers said “fine.” That Monday my mother (I was living with my parents at the time) gets a call from a clerk who was reportedly extremely angry that I had not shown up. (The judge had forgotten to tell the clerk…lol). At any rate, it was resolved and I was excused.
Most likely, you’d probably just be slapped with a fine.
Whether they lock people up, I’m not sure. But in Michigan, they make it abundantly clear on the summons that the State reserves the privilege of locking you up for failure to appear, for appearing in less-than-tasteful garb, for supplying false information on your return questionnaire, and a number of other conditions.
The vast majority of the laws which you’d be asked to try as a juror are themselves, unjust. I believe that participating in that sort of system is immoral and when/if called to “serve” on a jury, if you believe in liberty, the only moral option is jury nullifcation. Of course, that’s not a “win” per se, but it’s better than participating in the system that locks people up for non-crimes.
Thanks for that good feedback. I agree.
Yeah, it’s a $500 fine for failure to appear but failing to pay that will result in getting locked up I’m sure.
I asked a friend who’s a retired DA and part time judge about this a while back and he said that they couldn’t do anything unless they were able to serve a summons in person as they can’t prove that the mailed summons was ever received. He also said that they would probably try to do that eventually and then went into some stories about how he dealt with people who were trying to avoid his summons when he was a DA.
I can only imagine that was the purpose of someone from ‘the courts’ laying in wait at the parents house, my step-dad didn’t want to hear any details from this person so it is all speculation really.
Well, I never answer the door at my apartment unless I know I am having a visitor. lol
I wonder what those guys get paid who are asked to serve someone a summons.
The other thing is that they probably can find out where you work and then serve it to you. As a social worker I was served a summons while sitting at my desk in the late 90’s after one of my clients was accused of murder. Anyway, they never called me to actually appear in court.
Oh, one can dream…
Since I don’t actually ‘work’ there it would just give me an excuse for taking a day off and holding court at the bar…again.
I think they will probably just give up after a while instead of spending too much time trying to track me down which would require the cooperation of various state agencies and the federal government since my job takes me throughout the US, I’m rarely in Arizona hence my lack of a residence.
Sample questionaire
No 57. “… and the law as the judge gives it to you.”
I don’t think many people in this forum would check ‘yes.’
Same with no 58.
Could you possibly email me those 2 questions? I am having trouble accessing that site (I am currently on my PDA).
I wonder how much in taxes we are all paying to cover all those people who serve summons?? : )
Someone mentioned at the beginning of this thread that Rothbard recommended that in a pro libretarian society voluntary juries would be ok. Does anyone have more detailed information of Rothbard’s thoughts on this issue?
I don’t have to worry about jury duty in my local Florida County, I am probably blacklisted for life. At a political forum, I had made remarks concerning a jury’s right to try both the facts and the law. The Chief Judge of the local circuit happened to be in attendence. Three months later I am summoned to jury duty. I report for orientation, which the Chief Judge oversees. He recognized me right away. 
I was dismissed almost immediately. In fifteen years I have never seen another summons. I know damn well I am blacklisted.