AS good excuse for jury duty??
EnglishInvader
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I would never use mine to get off, let them decide if I am fit for it or not.
I had similar attitudes in my early twenties. Wait until you've spent a few years in the real world. The powers that be will quite happily take your demands for equality at face value and use them as an excuse to screw you over in every way possible. Take my advice. Don't go there.
I think I would personally make a very good juror; I look at facts only and am hard to manipulate because most people use emotional tactics when they try and I don't pick up on emotions. It wouldn't be conscientious of me to claim I couldn't because I have AS. However, if you don't think you'd make a good juror, you have every right to tell them, "Hey, I'm gullible as all get out and they'll probably walk all over me. Pick somebody else."
Personally, I think you yourself are most likely the best judge of whether or not you'd mess up if you had to be on a jury. Just leave it up to your conscience--can you truly not serve, or is it just that, like most of us, you'd rather not? If there's anything we tend to be good at, it's honesty, at least to ourselves.
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EnglishInvader
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We can all lie to ourselves and pretend that AS is not a real medical condition and that we're just a marginalised element of society. We are marginalised, but we are also seriously disadvantaged through our disability. In order to get on in the world, we have to take the help available to us where we find it. Self-righteousness is a very expensive luxury for people with AS and certainly not a desirable quality for a juror.
The problem is that is considered a desirable trait for a juror. You'll find yourself short listed very quickly. They want someone that doesnt think deeply and makes irrational and emotional decisions.
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davidred wrote...
I installed Ubuntu once and it completely destroyed my paying relationship with Microsoft.
I would be horrible at being a juror. First off, i believe i have social anxiety (which i really need to get treated and really, dx'd), so i wouldn't be any help...being all quiet, not giving my opinion. Second, i am liable to just copy someone else's response or just agree with them. It takes a lot of thought to come up with my own opinions or putting facts together when you bunch that with social anxiety. I wouldn't be able to give a fair answer. I am sure the phrase "idk" would come up a lot.
That being said, i was called for jury duty and i did go. I was so nervous, i was sweating and kinda shaking. There were like 100 people there. I about made a fool of myself and made the whole place laugh...they were taking attendance and as soon as they were about to call my name, i said "here." I knew my name was next because of the long pause. Then the person calling the names laughed (with everyone else) and said something stupid like having everyone say here before their names were called. I was very lucky that day. The entire group was dismissed because they didn't need us and we all got our papers saying we don't have to serve again for X amount of years and got our $16, i think it was.
So, i would say if you can't then don't and see if you can be excused. Some people really like doing this. Some people don't, but really have no choice. Others, would not be a good candidate for the job at all, being that they have a medical condition or the like.
Last edited by AMD on 30 Sep 2009, 8:28 am, edited 1 time in total.
Katie_WPG
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And exactly what part of this "real medical condition" would render EVERYONE with it to be unfit jurors?
What about those who honestly don't need any help? What about those who can get on in the world by themselves?
EnglishInvader
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And exactly what part of this "real medical condition" would render EVERYONE with it to be unfit jurors?
What about those who honestly don't need any help? What about those who can get on in the world by themselves?
I was mainly responding to Spokane_Girl's suggestion that some AS people use their problems as an excuse to shirk responsibility. My response is based on my own experience with AS and the British welfare system. I also pointed out that I had similar attitudes when I was her age and lost a lot of the support I needed as a result. My message is simple: "Life is hard for people with Asperger's Syndrome. Don't make it any harder than it needs to be."
I have always been excused from juror duty, simply because I require a note taker. I am also told that require means I am not fit to serve, as I may have trouble with facts or details important to a case. I can also state that no matter what you presented to me you would not be able to convince "Me" of a persons guilt beyond a shadow of doubt (Therefore there is no trial I would give a guilty verdict for). I would also never render a verdict with out the ability of my self being able to cross-examine both the members of prosecuting and defense. Nor could I get over the fact, that the prosecutions is there to produce a guilty verdict, however, at the same time was the only one really able to produce evidence it would seem to me that is a conflict of interest in itself. I would thus see, it a probably cause that the prosecution could have simply constructed a case, to advance there own career (That is not an unreasonable assumption to me). That's also why I think the prosecution should be cross examined (Weight there attitude in a case) and evidence always being allowed to be reviewed by a third party, if those are not meet for the defense, how do I know the police, and prosecution just didn't construct a case especially if it was to cover something they were possible at fault for?
I am actually wondering how many of you replying would actually be able to be convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt of a crime actually taking place that would be an interesting poll. I know you can't convince me of anything based off another option. Unless I can conduct an experiment that proves what you say.
Even if I could be excused from civic duty by merit of my disability, I would not request it. Jury duty is one of the few ways I can give back to my country, seeing as I'm not fit for military or police work, and I'm not subtle enough to run for office. Of course, depending on the case I might not even get the chance to be a juror, seeing as I have an oddly even-handed view of justice that most jury selectors would not like. But should the call come, I will answer it.
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If you actually think you'd break down or be incapable of understanding what was going on in the trial, then it's a reasonable excuse. If you would just be uncomfortable, however, I would say consider this - if you were on trial for something, would you want the entire jury to be NTs?
I have been called but never served (wasn't picked), but my father did, and the stories he told about the willingness of his fellow jurors to judge on the basis of the defendant's behavior or on their personal biases or on a desire to just be done with it was terrifying. Another commenter described her ordeal on a jury but also mentioned how in the end she may have helped the defendant to receive a slightly more just sentence than he might have otherwise. People who see things a bit differently and make their judgments on a different basis (and in the case of people with AS, typically a more fact-based one) really have an important place in the justice system. They can help keep people from serving jail time for completely stupid reasons, and perhaps see through the charming people who never seem to be punished no matter how obvious it is that they have committed a crime. If you think you can physically and mental handle it, I'd say do it. If not, you can try to get out of it and see how your luck is (I was once told that the fact I was in college in another state and would not be present at the time of the summons was not good enough... although they never did anything to me as a result of that...)
I have been called but never served (wasn't picked), but my father did, and the stories he told about the willingness of his fellow jurors to judge on the basis of the defendant's behavior or on their personal biases or on a desire to just be done with it was terrifying. Another commenter described her ordeal on a jury but also mentioned how in the end she may have helped the defendant to receive a slightly more just sentence than he might have otherwise. People who see things a bit differently and make their judgments on a different basis (and in the case of people with AS, typically a more fact-based one) really have an important place in the justice system. They can help keep people from serving jail time for completely stupid reasons, and perhaps see through the charming people who never seem to be punished no matter how obvious it is that they have committed a crime. If you think you can physically and mental handle it, I'd say do it. If not, you can try to get out of it and see how your luck is (I was once told that the fact I was in college in another state and would not be present at the time of the summons was not good enough... although they never did anything to me as a result of that...)
Good point! Of course, for some of us, that social anxiety may keep us from actually contributing, but not all of us have that. I would love to be part of something like that, but the social crap totally gets in the way for me to be able to function in that situation.
The problem is that is considered a desirable trait for a juror. You'll find yourself short listed very quickly. They want someone that doesnt think deeply and makes irrational and emotional decisions.
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I have served on circuit Court jury a couple of times and the second time, I was called in to sit in on what I found out to be a sentencing hearing of someone who likely robbed a store, murdered someone or caused some form of local illegal mayhem.
I was literally sitting across the room from this man and I was getting anxiety just by looking at him. So of course when the time came, I had to disclose my Autism. And the judge as well as the prosecution team had no problem with it and let me go.
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