By Dave Lucas
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-962059.mp3
Albany, NY – U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in New York City sentenced a Brooklyn woman to indefinite jury duty after she made allegedly racist remarks on a prospective juror questionnaire. The unidentified juror claimed to be biased against certain minority grups as well as police officers. Capital District Bureau Chief Dave Lucas explores why people try to avoid serving on juries.
People often go to great lengths to get out of jury dury: Albany County Jury Commissioner John Diamond says he's heard almost every excuse for getting out of it. Diamond points out that court systems generally look to lists of the names of state residents who are voters, taxpayers, licensed drivers, recipients of public assistance benefits and recipients of state unemployment compensation.
In another headline involving the jury process, New York Giants owner John Mara has been chosen as an alternate juror to hear a three-week drug trial in New York. He asked to be excused, telling the judge about his team responsibilities with the NFL draft coming up and his role as a negotiator in the sticky labor talks with the players' union.
Google the phrase "how to get out jury duty" - it - yields about 985-thousand results on the search engine - and on the first page you'll find this cyncical quote: "Just remember: when you go to court, you are trusting your fate to 12 people that weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty!" Commissioner Diamond says that phrase doesn't do justice to the modern jury system.
Late this morning ABC news reported that Judge Garaufis has relented, releasing the Brooklyn woman woman after a day of duty in which she sat alone in a holding tank. He allowed her to sneak out the back door to avoid the media.