I was promoted a couple of weeks ago. Now I’ve given up my comfortable station I’ve been at for 23 years to wander around the city from fire station to fire station with no home. The things we do for an 18% raise.
Congratulations and sympathies in whatever proportion you deem appropriate!
Your old helmet looks like it has a few stories to tell.
I got summoned for jury duty this week. I thought I might be dwelling in an assembly room for two weeks, but thirty or so people and I were called into a jury pool after only an hour or so. There were some anxious chuckles as we wondered about the waiting, the number of people called, and what this was all about.
We were led into a courtroom and sat down in a jury box. Across from us were four lawyers and a serious looking man. To our left, a judge advised us that this man was charged with murder in the second degree. That was a sobering moment.
Over the week, we were questioned as potential jurors, and ultimately yesterday many of us and I were kicked out of the jury pool. I was a little relieved, because the public service was an inconvenience potentially stretching into hardship if the trial will last for a few weeks. But I was also really curious about what a trial would have been like, and what the outcome of the case was going to be. And I couldn’t help but feel rejected, as if a girl I liked told me she didn’t like me that way, or a job interview didn’t pan out. Even though the judge and attorneys told us that we shouldn’t take it personally. The mathematics indicated that 29 cool people still standing couldn’t fit into a 12 person jury.
Then everyone who was released from that pool was told that our service was up. We didn’t have to serve our the full expected two weeks, just four days.
I’m sure the defendant was hoping to have a good trial experience even more than I was hoping to have a good trial experience. For me, it was an unforgettable experience, and I kind of wish it lasted longer.
It seems like they have gotten a lot better about getting people directly into selection pools than when I did it in the early 2000s. that time was almost a week of just sitting and reading, only even saw the inside of a courtroom once for a few minutes before they had their 12 people without even considering me.
When I got called in last time it was way more like you’re describing - into a selection pool inside an hour and then they were questioning folks and ultimately selected a couple days in. Not including me. Which is just as well because for us it was a child molestation charge and I am pretty sure that would have been… scarring.
I did have the opportunity to sit in the jury on a criminal trial last September. It was a fascinating experience, though one full of some disturbing elements. But overall took 3 days, including trial time.
I imagine this varies from court to court. When I did it last like a decade ago it was about the same experience as Djscman described, but it all took place in a day. 30ish of us showed up, we all got marched into a room and lectured for a bit by a judge, then questioned, then a jury + alternates was selected at random from the people there, then people were disqualified one at a time via questioning. All of us that didn’t make the jury were told to go home and that was that.
It’s refreshing to hear some of you actually wanting to be selected. I’m so used to hearing the tired narrative of hoping to get out of jury duty. It can surely be a burden, but if reasonable people aren’t on juries, justice doesn’t stand a chance.
Speaking of which, Jury Duty on Prime/Freevee is freaking hilarious so far, and buzz from friends is that it just gets better.
I was in the pool for a jury for a firefighter suing the city of Seattle a number of years ago. The trial was going to last six weeks. During selection they were asking us if we had questions about the trial. I said I was having trouble reconciling the sum being sued for is Washington state doesn’t allow punitive damages — even with medical expense and lost wages for the rest of his career the amount seemed really high. The plaintiff’s lawyer asked for me to be dismissed from the pool the moment I finished my question.
Happily, the firefighter won his lawsuit. He was working an a different firehouse from his own, and walked through a door and fell down the firepole hole when trying to go the bathroom in the middle of the night because the light was out behind the firepole door, I definitely feel that was negligence on the city’s part and he deserved support, I just couldn’t reconcile the number amount with what I understood of the law.
As part of my job, I see a lot of Workers Compensation settlements and take them, and amortize them the Claimants Life Expectancy.
Some of those amounts truly end up being a pittance, especially if the person is young.
And of course, the max social security pays is based on your highest wages, meaning the claimant is capped further (although we give cola increases).
I have no idea what the person is being paid, but even large lump sums can break down to small amounts over time.
Is there a cap on the maximum social security benefit a person can receive?
Just wondering, as I have 25 more years until full retirement age!
IIRC SS is based on the average of your top 30 earning years, but I don’t recall ever seeing an absolute cap mentioned.
There is a cap on the amount you can get when you combine SS Disability Benefits and Workers Compensation. This cap is 80% of your average current earnings (which there are a few ways to calculate).
Depending on your state, with the WC is reduced, or the SSDI benefits are reduced. Or, if you are in Florida, it’s a stupid mixture of both.
Or if you are in TX, it doesn’t matter because Texas hates you and will never give you WC.
In anyway, every 3 years in which you WC+ SSDI exceeds 80% of ACE, a recalculation is done, increases your benefits slightly.
I got summoned last August for a felony murder case. The process was very quick comparatively.
About 80 were summoned, voir dire was completed that Monday, and I was selected as an alternate (I remember cussing under my breath which is very loud in a courtroom. lol).
Trial lasted 3 days, deliberations were Friday morning and a verdict was reached after lunch.
On one hand I didn’t want to be there Monday and on the other I was very curious about the process. I sorta made fun of the prosecution’s hypothetical and something the defense said too. So in the back of mind I thought being an alternate was a little punishment. I also displayed disapproval when one of the attorney’s made a joke. Talking with other jurors, it seem like none of them laughed either.
Tv courtroom stuff is not like real life and also kinda? During part of questioning I said to myself ‘you can’t do that’ and an objection was raised, so I guess something was picked up.
Deliberations were eye-opening and no one should want a jury of peers in control of their destiny. A handful of people definitely knew their vote on Monday. We had a lone guy who wasn’t sure and one dude (who was always late) almost got into a fight with him. Foreman was useless. As an alternate I couldn’t say anything.
Looking back it was interesting the jury pool was a reflection of the city at large in regards to ethnicity and jobs all things considered.
Never got my check for the time. Only got covid.