UNITED STATES—You have served jury duty, rather a day of just sitting or serving on an actual case you do receive payment for your service. However, the pay is not what you expect. You do have the option: 1) take the check you receive for jury duty or 2) the payment you would receive from your actual place of work. Hmm, that would not be a difficult choice to make people! What you make at your day job, I can assure you is way more than what you would make from jury duty.
Your first day is like $40 to $50, and each subsequent day you serve is an additional $15 to $20, plus you get paid like pennies on a dollar for mileage to and from the courthouse. In essence I think I earned a little over a $100 bucks. I made a lot more when I served at federal court. I’m sure you get paid more for mileage in addition to what a juror makes per day people.
That brings me to an important question: why doesn’t the government at least pay jurors a decent wage. I mean couldn’t they at least do minimum wage at $7.25 per hour. For most people who are summoned for jury duty, you make less money than minimum wage. You don’t receive payment for parking, you don’t get paid for having to pay for your lunch, you don’t get paid if you have to purchase a business outfit for your time serving. I mean c’mon, make it worthwhile to the public instead of these measly dollars that don’t add up to much of anything if I’m being honest.
It truly is a slap in the face of people who are serving their civic duty and the government preaches how important it is. If that is the case, you can at least offer a decent paycheck for the days of waiting and doing nothing or a week or two or longer having to come to a courtroom each day. It’s a good thing most people are only doing jury duty for a week or two at most. It only becomes problematic when you’re stuck serving on a jury in a federal court which could be a process that lasts months. That is even worse people.
Then you know what is also crazy: you have to claim any payment you receive from jury duty on your taxes. You’re telling me by performing my civic duty I’m supposed to be taxed on any money I earn. Are you truly kidding me? No, I’m not and anyone who has filed taxes knows that. All I’m asking is if I have to serve jury duty, which can be an inconvenience for most Americans, make it worthwhile with a decent pay check. Pay a livable wage, pay for parking, give a voucher for lunch and make the process as easy as it can be.
More people might be giddy about jury duty if they were paid a reasonable amount and not slapped in the face with compensation that doesn’t even fill up your gas tank. FYI, it also sucks you are waiting weeks to receive that payment in the mail. For some people, it takes so long to receive payment you completely forget you even served jury duty. But now you know the process from start to finish, so if you’re summoned you should know what to prepare for.
