This story describes how a man was jailed for contempt of court for refusing to serve on a jury. The jailed man refused to serve on the grounds that he had work commitments that would have reduced his impartiality. The judge responded by jailing him.While I am in favour of people doing their civic duty and doing jury service, in this case the judge was an idiot.
Fines for failing to appear for jury service are relatively light, but this bone-headed judge has now made the penalty for showing up to explain your reasons imprisonment. End result? More people just won't show up.
More people would turn up for jury service if 1) there was strong legislative protection for their jobs while they were serving, and 2) the compensation for jury service was equivalent to what they would miss out earning while serving. Instead, we get a judge throwing a temper-tantrum and putting an honest man in jail.
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