Jury duty blocking

[zsdersw]

http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/03/06/Be_Gay,_Get_Out_of_Jury_Duty/

A gay man was excused from jury duty in New York last week because he said that discrimination against gays makes him a second-class citizen and therefore he couldn’t be impartial.

Jonathan D. Lovitz, an actor, model, and singer who will be on Logo’s upcoming show Setup Squad, wrote on his Facebook page, “I raised my hand and said, ‘Since I can’t get married or adopt a child in the state of New York, I can’t possibly be an impartial judge of a citizen when I am considered a second class citizen in the eyes of the justice system.’”

“And he got off the case!” reported Village Voice columnist Michael Musto. “And that’s how the new phenomenon of ‘jury duty blocking’ was born.”

New York party promoter and blogger Justin Luke encourages others to use the strategy. Read more here.

Interesting approach.. and a hot guy, too:

 

[thraashman]

He's right. If they won't treat him equally in the eyes of the state then he can't be considered a peer when on a jury.

 

[boomerang]

Civic duty is for chumps.

 

[nageov3t]

he's either in contempt of court (if he's lying) or a retard (if he's not) if he truly believes that the inability to get married prevents him from impartially judging a case that has nothing to do with marriage or possibly even heterosexuals.

do gays really not want to have a voice in juries because some people who have nothing to do with the local court or the plaintiffs in the case don't want to legalize gay marriage?

 

[Scotteq]

H L Menken: "A Juror is one of 12 who, having discussed his hearing, health, and work obligations with the Judge, has failed to fool him"

 

[nageov3t]

the cynic in me wonders if this actually happened or if he's just trying to get publicity for his new show (and his abs)

 

[piasabird]

He is just using this for an excuse because he did not want to sit on the jury. His reasoning was just pure baloney. He is no more downtrodden than any other person. He is just a bigger cry baby.

 

[Jeeebus]

just because he wasn't picked to serve on the jury does not necessarily mean he was not picked because of his purported excuse.

There may have been 100 people called for jury duty that day, with only 6 - 12 needed for a particular jury. Unless the judge looked at him and said "I agree, you are a second class citizen incapable of serving," this is hardly a story.

Even if that happened, I find it hard to believe that 99.99% of judges would have let him off.

 

[JEDIYoda]

do gays really not want to have a voice in juries because some people who have nothing to do with the local court or the plaintiffs in the case don't want to legalize gay marriage?

Why should they if they do not have the same rights as hetrosexuals??

 

[jonks]

afaik gays can adopt in ny...
http://www.hrc.org/issues/parenting/adoptions/8464.htm

 

[jonks]

Why should they if they do not have the same rights as hetrosexuals??

b/c everyone can feel that they are discriminated against in some way and use that to opt out of jury duty. A white person can claim that affirmative action discriminates against the majority so he's therefore a second class citizen and won't sit on a jury. Ditto for polygamists or any other group who doesn't get what they want. That way lies anarchy.

 

[matt0611]

I wish I had a good excuse to get out of jury duty every time haha.

 

[JEDIYoda]

b/c everyone can feel that they are discriminated against in some way and use that to opt out of jury duty. A white person can claim that affirmative action discriminates against the majority so he's therefore a second class citizen and won't sit on a jury. Ditto for polygamists or any other group who doesn't get what they want. That way lies anarchy.

sorry no cigar--you are completely wrong!!
why?

Because they are discriminated against and as such they are 2nd class citizens.

What do you call somebody who does not have the nsame rights that you have?

A.-- a second class citizen!!

 

[nageov3t]

sorry no cigar--you are completely wrong!!
why?

Because they are discriminated against and as such they are 2nd class citizens.

What do you call somebody who does not have the nsame rights that you have?

A.-- a second class citizen!!

how does being a second class citizen impair his ability to have an unbiased opinion about someone who ran into a pothole?

 

[wuliheron]

I wish I had a good excuse to get out of jury duty every time haha.

Just tell the judge you're gay. It doesn't matter whether you really are or not. What's he gonna do? Follow you to the nearest gay bar?

 

[WhipperSnapper]

I wonder if the judge said, "OK, you can go home now," or if he said, "I think you should sit through this trial as a member of the audience."

 

[Lanyap]

I wish I had a six pack like that. Oh, and no babe pics in ATPN.

 

[JEDIYoda]

how does being a second class citizen impair his ability to have an unbiased opinion about someone who ran into a pothole?

So people who do not have the same rights as american citizens should be able to serve on jury duty??

So let me get this straight...you can ask idiotic questions, but you cannot differentiate between those who have rights and those who do not?

 

[PokerGuy]

Lovitz is a complete moron, trying to link issues that have nothing to do with each other. Using his logic every freaking person in the world would have an excuse to shirk their duty. "hey, I'm not allowed to marry my sister, I'm a second class citizen, I can't be on the jury!". "hey, I'm not allowed to have 5 wives, I'm a second class citizen, I can't be on the jury!". etc etc.

Complete BS, they should have thrown him in jail for contempt.

 

[Texashiker]

After putting much thought into this thread, I finally came up with an asnwer.

For the first 200+ years of America, blacks were considered as second class citizens. But regardless if they were considered second class citizens or not, no other race as done more for their country.

Blacks, who were regarded as second class citizens, fought and died for the USA. But on the other hand, we have this white gay man that does not even want to serve on a jury?

Bah, looks like he needs to find another country to live in.

 

[dawp]

I wish I had a good excuse to get out of jury duty every time haha.

just say you don't agree with the law being applied and that you could not convict in good conscience. I disagree with almost all drug laws and will never convict in those cases. I feel the same way with prostitution and some other things.

 

[jonks]

sorry no cigar--you are completely wrong!!
why?

Because they are discriminated against and as such they are 2nd class citizens.

What do you call somebody who does not have the nsame rights that you have?

A.-- a second class citizen!!

Well aside from your mere assertion that they are 2nd class citizens and thus exempt from jury duty, you completely ignored the issues I raised. Care to try addressing them?

You don't have to if you don't want to. I can just say "No, YOU'RE wrong!" and we can go back and forth like infants. But maybe you should address the things I raised if you want to try to have a constructive argument.

Let's start with a simple question. Are polygamists discriminated against?