Jury selection is a rather complicated process. A jury is made up from a list of citizens living in the jurisdiction of the court. They may be selected from an electoral roll (ie, a list of registered voters in the locale) or even by driver's licenses. When selected, being a juror is, in principle, compulsory. Prospective jurors are sent summons and are obligated to appear in court on the specified date.
However, jurors can be dismissed for several reasons and many people are released from serving on a jury. People can, for instance, claim hardship if they take care of their children, or claim to be biased. Attorneys are routinely dismissed from jury duty for a number of reasons, particularly because attorneys in a community are likely to know of or have some connection with the attorneys involved in the case. Many individuals are paid only the token amount issued by the court for jury duty, and must take time off from work to serve (although some work places will give paid days off for jury duty).
Especially for high profile trials, or long trials, it is unusual to compel one to serve because of the possibility that a juror would have other things on their mind, such as their finances, during the trial or deliberations.
It is argued that involuntary jury duty is unconstitutional according to the 13th amendment(Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction). Also, they pay less than minimum wage and often less than the cost of transportation.
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