Source of article 2's Company - Magnus Insights.

I have assisted attorneys in selecting juries since 1991. That’s a long time. I have been involved in hundreds of jury selections across the U.S.A., from Alaska to Florida. Never, until recently, have I witnessed a judge asking a large panel of potential jurors the following question: “Who wants to serve as a juror on this case?”. In every case except this one, the judges inquire about the potential jurors’ hardships, defined as something that would make it difficult or impossible to be a juror. Common hardships are: financial, including not being paid by one’s employer when someone is not working or is self employed; being the sole care giver for a young child, a disabled spouse, or an elderly parent; being a college student and unable to miss classes; and having non-refundable airline tickets for a trip during the course of the trial. Judges routinely excuse potential jurors for these reasons, as well as others. Usually, when the judge asks the question, “Who has a hardship that would prevent them from serving on this jury, which will last X number of days, weeks, or months?” many people raise their hands, then precious time is spent listening to everyone’s reasons and excuses for why they should be excused from jury duty. This is, in my opinion, a huge waste of time and resources and could, and should, be handled by the court administrator prior to bringing the jurors into the courtroom, leaving only those people who have been vetted for jury duty for a certain length of time on the panel. In the recent jury selection when the judge inquired about “reverse hardships,” it was amazing to me how many prospective jurors were willing to participate on a jury for a three week trial. The clever judge never opened the usual floodgates to allow the whining and complaining we usually hear from people who think someone else should fulfill their civic duty, due to their self inflated view of themselves. Instead, we were left with people who truly wanted to perform one of the greatest roles we, as citizens of the U.S.A., can perform (second only to serving in the military). As a result, the jury selection process went smoothly and the attorneys on both sides of the case were able to obtain the best possible jurors, in the most efficient manner I have ever witnessed.