Man dismissed from jury duty for wearing prisoner costume

[TexasTowelie]

In this June 9, 2015 photo, James Lowe of Barnet, Vt., poses for a photo after a judge told him to leave the Caledonia County Courthouse in St. Johnsbury, Vt., for wearing prison stripes and matching beanie to jury selection. (Dana Gray/The Caledonian Record via AP)

ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. - A Vermont man has escaped jury duty — by getting dismissed for wearing a prisoner costume.

James Lowe of Barnet says he was released from jury duty on Tuesday when he showed up to court wearing a black-and-white-striped jumpsuit with a matching beanie.

The Caledonian Record (http://bit.ly/1QKMx6S ) reports that Lowe showed up on time and joined other prospective jurors before the start of the selection process. Deputies directed him to an empty courtroom to meet with the judge, who told him to leave.

Lowe says the judge told him he could've been found in contempt of court. That could've meant a fine or jail time.

Read more: http://www.caller.com/news/watercooler/man-dismissed-from-jury-duty-for-wearing-prisoner-costume (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

[SheilaT]

1. I am frequently horrified at the number of people who don't want to do jury duty.

And these are people who have never served on a jury. I've even known some people who did not register to vote for fear of jury duty. Idiots.

I'm 66 years old, and I have only once been called for jury duty. Alas, I was dismissed because two days later a family trip where the plane tickets had already been purchased was coming up. I always register to vote. I just don't understand why my name never comes up.

Jury duty, is in my opinion, a nearly sacred duty of a citizen.

My one concern is that I'd be close to being selected as a juror, and as I am adamantly opposed to the death penalty, that stance would keep me off a jury. Of course, very few trials are death penalty ones, but still.

[TexasTowelie]

2. I was always willing to serve on a jury,

but I was also paid salary so if I was called it wouldn't have impacted me from a financial perspective. I can understand why an hourly or a commission-based worker would feel different since the time spent responding to jury duty means that they are losing income. I think that it is a matter of being self-centered and that they don't want to have the duty of listening to the problems of other people.

[SheilaT]

3. I have almost never known someone to object to jury duty because

of potential loss of wages, although I know that's a real possibility. What I see over and over is people who simply don't understand the importance and value of jury duty.

At this point in my life I'm retired, so I'm a prime potential jury member. It made me more than crazy that one time I was called up that from the beginning of the voir dire I knew I'd be dismissed, although I got to sit through all of the regular jury selection, and late in the afternoon when I was finally called as a potential alternate, I was able to tell the judge about my upcoming trip.

These days, as a retired person, I am doing a lot of travelling, although most of the time I'm driving and if I've already made hotel reservations they can probably be cancelled, so I'd be easily able to do the duty. Sigh. Maybe some day.

[imthevicar]

5. Jury Duty Is a scam

Designed to give the public the illusion of a fair and impartial verdict! how so, few if any low wage workers receive any remuneration for time spent on a jury thereby eliminating mostly poor, Black, and low wage whites from the Jury pool. (How do you think Prosecutors end up with Lilly white Juries?) further punishing them (The low wage worker) for being poor as they waste a day in the system discovering they are excused because of No Pay rules like this, thus already loosing a days wages. 5 bucks a day don't cover it!

[Dr. Xavier]

4. Judge should have thrown him in custody since

he was already dressed. What a clown.