Have I been convicted of a felony?

[Dingfod]

It's not fair. I have never been convicted of a felony, and the last misdemeanor I pleaded guilty to was speeding in 1977, and have been a registered voter since 1976, and I have yet to be called for jury duty.

[ChuckF]

If I get no other benefit from law school, at least I will never have to do jury duty.

[Dingfod]

I want to serve on a jury. I get paid my salary while serving, plus whatever pittance jurors get.

[lisarea]

The last time I got called, they selected a lawyer for the jury.

[ChuckF]

SHUT UP

[SR71]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

The multiple choice question in the OP was from the jury selection web form. The form I got in the mail has this:

"To be qualified to serve as a juror you must:

Q7. not have been convicted of a theft or any felony."

In the column to the right of that is a check box, with the text "I have a felony conviction and am currently on probation or served time in prison".

I am not currently on probation and haven't served time in prison, so checking that box would not be truthful, even though I have been convicted of a felony.

Yeah, I see your confusion. Is there a number to call for clarification, or could you call the court house?

[Dragar]

I would firmly cross out the 'and am currently on probation or served time in prison' and tick the box.

As for the poll, as Clutch says, there's only one option that contains no falsehoods.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

I answered "Yes. I was sentenced to serve time in jail or prison and not placed on supervision/probation." and was disqualified.

But you were placed on probation, right (just not only or not initially)? So this option is false?

Originally Posted by viscousmemories

I'm just not sure the answer I chose is more truthful than "Yes. I was placed on supervision/probation, completed it and have been discharged.", which I'm pretty sure would not have disqualified me.

And this option has no falsehood in it. Unless I'm missing something.

If you are found guilty of perjury and jailed will we need another admin?
* JoeP cuts to what really matters

[viscousmemories]

Originally Posted by SR71

Yeah, I see your confusion. Is there a number to call for clarification, or could you call the court house?

They provided an email address which I used, but I haven't heard back yet.

Originally Posted by JoeP

But you were placed on probation, right (just not only or not initially)? So this option is false?

Correct.

Originally Posted by JoeP

And this option has no falsehood in it. Unless I'm missing something.

Nope, that's correct too. It's just not the whole story so it confuses me.

[Qingdai]

So can you vote in the State of Texas? I heard most southern states don't let ex-felons vote.

[viscousmemories]

Yep, I can vote. The law is clear on that. That's another reason the jury thing is intriguing.

To be eligible to register to vote in Texas, a person must be: [...]

Not finally convicted of a felony, or, if so convicted must have (1) fully discharged the sentence, including any term of incarceration, parole, or supervision, or completed a period of probation ordered by any court; or (2) been pardoned or otherwise released from the resulting disability to vote;

[Qingdai]

Some states require going before a judge to have one's voting rights re-instated or some other mechanism.

[Demimonde]

It isn't just a southern states problem. Half of the 12 states that bar felons from voting are not the south, including Washington state. Almost all states have serious restrictions and ten states have restrictions on those with misdemeanors as well.

[Qingdai]

Yeah, Washington is pretty bad. Recently a ex-felon ran for office on the platform that ex-felons should have their rights to vote returned upon completion of their sentence. I'm in a state where you can vote as long as you aren't in jail.

Florida made the ex-felons permanently lose their right to vote issue infamous to me. It was in the news frequently.

[Demimonde]

It makes me mad as hell. I had a family member released last month and am glad that my state has some intelligence on this issue, but the problem is wide-spread and it pisses me off that he has so many hurdles to jump when he has already served his time.

It is even more damning when you look at the lopsided numbers in terms of minority incarceration. What good does protection of redistricting do, if so many are disenfranchised from voting at all? It mostly serves to minimize the political clout of already minority communities who struggle for representation.

Not the America I was taught in school.

[Qingdai]

Up until fairly recently, Oregon was one of the few states (also Maine and Utah) where incarcerated persons could vote. There's a federal prison in a small town here, that was worried that the felons (if they could vote) would over-whelm the small town, as they out-numbered the residents. So they passed a law. The part that pissed me off, was that the guards, when this story hit the news, said they wouldn't give the felons ballots anyway, even though there was no law in place saying the prisoners couldn't vote.

Some times you vote is taken away without even being aware of it.

I live in a predominately, or rather historically, black neighborhood. Only when I moved here, did I have my signature questioned by an observer. The same crappy, inconsistent signature I've had for years.

[erimir]

So... why not have prisoners simply retain their registration in the place they were living before they were incarcerated, or disallow them from voting in elections at the local level if they were not resident in the state before their arrest and conviction?

[maddog]

The more intelligent you are, the more difficult it is to fill out "simple" forms.

Calling for clarification is fine. If you don't get a satisfactory response in a timely fashion, I would feel free to cross out anything that did not apply and interlineate the correct information.

#2831

[Qingdai]

Originally Posted by erimir

So... why not have prisoners simply retain their registration in the place they were living before they were incarcerated, or disallow them from voting in elections at the local level if they were not resident in the state before their arrest and conviction?

Often (especially in Federal prison) they could be from a whole host of different places and countries. They like to count prisoners for the census, so cities and towns that host prisons get extra infrastructure and/or services.
Then there is the occasional "diesel therapy", where in a prisoner is moved from prison to prison every couple of months or less, so their mail and or visitors never catch up with them.

In other words, I have no idea, but the inmates voting is not one of the concerns of the government, nor most of the public.

[erimir]

I dunno, seems pretty stupid to me. But it mainly hurts poor people so the public doesn't really care I guess.

There are some types of crime that ought to result in a loss of voting rights, but there ought to be a more salient connection than "it was a felony". Espionage against the US comes to mind as the type of crime that would clearly be one where the person convicted should not be allowed to vote. Losing voting rights over burglary or prostitution (3rd conviction is a felony in a lot of states), for example, is bullshit.

And most of the people who I think should not be allowed to influence elections will never be convicted of anything, and even if they are, they'll still be able to give thousands and thousands of dollars to campaigns or PACs anyway, and their individual votes would be pretty inconsequential regardless.

[Qingdai]

Election fraud, for example would be a great felony to have one stripped of one's voting rights.
Still haven't heard of a case of that actually being convicted, much less with that penalty.

For example this guy Bill Sizemore - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, should have had his voting rights taken away, yet still he runs. His tax evasion charge was a direct result of election based fraud.

A girl can dream.

[Iacchus]

Originally Posted by thedoc

It was my impression that he was trying to avoid Jury Duty, but you read it the way you want to. And no, I don't feel like letting it rest if I don't want to, you're not my boss.

Yeah, that was the impression I got too. Although he did say he was ambivalent about it. It still sounds like he'd rather not serve if he had the choice though.

[seebs]

I seem to recall there is something like "record expunged" which changes the answer to this or something, but really, ask a lawyer.

[viscousmemories]

Got a reply.

Mr. Memories,

You are actually eligible for jury service. You aren't eligible for a criminal jury trial, but eligible for a civil jury trial. The system will be updated to where you can register again, not claiming that disqualification. We ask that you please call our office after you finish registering so that we can make sure that you are placed in a civil jury trial. Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Thank you,
Jury Management Office

[Leesifer]

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving