I’m sorry it came off that way, I actually do agree with you. My issues is with the way a few of these people were *treating* those around them. There’s the professional way to deal with a situation, and then there’s the disrespectful – “let’s cause a scene and get an attitude up in here” route making it even worse for everyone involved. Particularly the employees just doing their job.

I’d be just as frustrated and nervous as your husband too (and in fact, I was because I’m a small business owner and fully self-employed too – pretty much being the *only* one bringing money to support my family with a baby), but I’d imagine he’d handle it a lot more respectfully than getting into someone’s face and causing a scene (which hurts your chances of a positive resolution even more).

I can’t remember the details, and I believe it varies state by state or county by county, but I do hope your husband can work something out so there’s no financial hardship for you guys. That’s scary :( I know there were people in our group which were allowed to leave under “financial hardship” so maybe it’ll work out for you guys?

@Jen – Awww, thanks so much for sharing your experience/thoughts with us!! Totally solidified my excitement for the whole thing! :) I agree with that judge more than I ever have before – jurors are super important! And although our trial was only 4 days long, even having THEM do it all over again would be a nightmare, so I guess being an alternate is just 1 piece to the puzzle – even though we do tend to feel un-helpful ;) So cool to hear from someone who works in the courtrooms – THANK YOU SO MUCH for commenting!

Just a little FYI note on the alternate juror status….every state is different with how they handle alternate jurors. I’ve worked in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. I can’t remember if Virginia tells the alternate that they’re an alternate beforehand, but I do know that North Carolina and Pennsylvania do. Actually, here in NC, they specifically ASK the juror before they’re chosen if they’re okay with being an alternate. The Judge tells them that they’re being considered as an alternate juror. Then they explain the purpose of an alternate, in which I’ve heard an alternate referred to by the Judge as “the sixth man on the basketball team,” “an insurance policy,” and even “a spare tire”! HA! (It always generates laughter in the courtroom.) I’ve actually had jurors tell the Judge that they’re not okay with being an alternate and they’ve been excused.

I imagine being an alternate is frustrating, but at the same time, I’ve had so many cases use them and need them that it’s vital to the process. Some trials last for weeks on end, even months. Can you imagine all the time and effort put into that trial only to have a juror get sick right near the end and not having an alternate to replace them? The entire trial is then a mistrial and the participants have to start all over again with a new jury.

I used to have a Judge that said that jury duty was one of the most important civic duties we have, and it is. I know it’s frustrating at times, but to J$ and anyone else on here who has served, thank you for your service! It’s such an important part of our justice system.

@Brian – Oooh that WOULD be fun! If someone around me went with I’d totally do it :) I’m not so good on going after it alone w/out any motivation, haha… Especially since I’m so backed up with work now that I’m a stay-at-home dad two days a week :( Great idea though! And I hope you get on another jury soon then too :)
@Budget & the Beach – Yeah, as a freelancer you pretty much get screwed. Luckily most of my money comes from advertising which runs whether I’m in front of a computer or not, but it still backs up your entire week that’s for sure… Maybe one day when you’re swimming in millions you’ll be ready to give it a shot :)
@KM – Nice! Awesome employer :) I’m sure there was a slight chance I could have gotten off on that reasoning too, but since I already pushed it back twice in the past year, I figured it was time to just suck it up and fulfill my duty. And I’m really glad I did :)
@Melissa@LittleHouseintheValley – Oh man, if it were a murder case I woulda been STUCK there forever! And this post would have been a lot different, haha… but nah – it was determining who was negligent in a major car accident, and then who was owed what amount. It just took forever ‘cuz ther were so many parties involved.
@Angella – Hah! I’m surprised the amount of spam that AOL probably lets through hasn’t deterred him yet – he’s pretty stuck in his ways! :) (And crazy you’ve never been called to jury duty yet – you should swap with me some time, I get called every 3 years! Even when I move states!)
@Samantha – Oh wow, I’m sorry to hear that :( I can’t even imagine what that’s like to go through – I hope you don’t have anything nearly as crazy if/when you ever get called up again! And good to know about jury talking and stuff too – I guess my brain is still in “secret” mode since it was so engrained in us throughout the entire process :)
@Veronica @ Pelican on Money – Haha, well that’s good! It’s def. hard when you DO want to server – for a set amount of time even – but you just never know how long any of the cases can go for. Not being able to pay the bills is a BIG one too!
@Philip – Woahhhh a million dollars? That’s a lot! But it’s totally true – your average citizen won’t know anything about the law and precedence or any of that stuff, but those are the people tha are determining a lot! At least the system seems to be working for the most part though, at least on the surface :) And now you have a cool story to tell!
@Kevin @ Thousandaire.com – Hah! Good thinking actually, though it turns out I can still write it off as they gave me a receipt that allows for it :) So I still win – yay!
@eemusings – That def. blows. But at the same time 4 weeks is an INCREDIBLY long chunk to pause your life on, not many people can do that and not suffer any consequences. Guess it’s just the way the system works though :(

It really was interesting to see what goes on but in the end I felt that it is kinda sorry that a group of 12 of us that have no clue on precedence or anything else ended up deciding on a case and awarding a bit over a million dollars… just crazy!