3piecesuitguy
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 11, 2011
- Messages
- 43
- Reaction score
- 27
Hello Ladies and Gents,
I apologise in advance for the following rant, but I need to get something off my chest to this great group of like minded individuals. I am an Australian guy, in my late 40's and I like to dress well, hence I am a member here. I don't post often and my life doesn't always allow me to dress in the way I would like to, but when I get the chance I suit up!
I have been waiting a long time to get the call up for Jury Duty and that finally happened late last year. Today I attended the court as I had been earmarked for serving on a Jury, so I put on my Brooks Brothers navy pinstripe suit, a white spread collar, double cuff shirt and and a grey, black and white striped tie. I would have worn my waistcoat if it was winter, but it's summer here and hot! When I turned up at the court I was floored by what I saw in the line of potential jurors. The men were mainly wearing shorts, t-shirts and some of them were wearing thongs (for our American friends you'd call them flip-flops I think)!! Not tailored shorts but cargo shorts. One even had a t-shirt with the slogan on it "My Guitar wants to kill yo mama"!!! Some of the girls were wearing singlet tops, jeans and sneakers. Now if you knew me you would know that I am not a snob, far from it. I hold myself to a standard of dress and whatever anyone else decides to wear is not in my control nor is it my right to treat anyone differently because of how they dress. I may not like what you are wearing but I'd never criticize you for it. I know we all make judgements and so I will come across as judgemental in this post, but to me there are certain places where standards are to be upheld, and a court of law is one of those places. You don't dress like you are going to the beach when you go to court, regardless of why you are there. I dressed seriously because being on a jury is a serious matter! You have someone's life and future in your hands. I thought about taking my tie off, but didn't because I thought about the gravity of the situation and decided that how I was dressed was entirely appropriate and why shouldn't I wear a suit and tie if I want to. I could wear one to do groceries if I like.
So the process begins. Can you go the day without having a smoke? I don't smoke. Have you parked somewhere where you won't need to move your car? Yes. Next stage is going up to the courtroom. More opportunities to be excused come about, but they're not relevant to me so I am still in the running to be selected. Next all of our juror numbers are placed in a ballot box. There's about 50 of us and they are selecting 12 jurors, so it is completely random, and amazingly I get picked. I'm never picked in a raffle, but i get picked for this and I am ok with it. I move up the court and actually sit in the jury box. I'm thinking that I might actually get the chance to serve on a jury! You're probably all thinking I'm mad to even want to, but I see it as my duty and was happy to do it. Anyway I wait while they pick the rest of the jury. The next step is that we each have to stand as our number is called and either the defence or prosecution can challenge us. It's my time to stand and the defence attorney simply says the word "Challenge" and with that I am out of the jury. It turns out I am the only one the gets challenged, and the only man in the jury panel wearing a tie. I am excused and that's it. The day is done.
As I sit here writing this I am frustrated with the process. I am frustrated that people think it is suitable to turn up for jury duty dressed like you are going to the beach or mowing the lawn. But mostly I am frustrated that the sole reason I was excused from the jury that I really wanted to serve on is that I am a white, middle aged man, dressed in a suit and wearing a tie. There was nothing else they knew about me at that stage. It really irks me that standards have slipped so far that people wear the outfits they do to court, with the hope of being excused, and I get as close as possible to serving, but I am excused simply because I am dressed the way a lawyer or officer of the court would be expected to dress! How does that work? I have had a few friends tell me that the defence will routinely dismiss men who wear ties from juries, as they are seen as upper class and not your average Australian and that in itself is disgusting as I could sit there and suspend my judgement very easily and judge on the basis of the evidence. I know it is somewhat ironic I am bemoaning how people dress for court and that I was also dismissed for what I was wearing, but I felt how I presented myself was the right way to go. The frustration is that it is obviously not the norm and if I ever want to serve on a jury I will need to lower my standards to present a certain image. It just doesn't make sense and I won't do it. A jury is supposed to represent a cross section of the community and some of us white, middle class men like to wear a suit and tie. If you were doing jury duty what would you wear?
Apologies for the rant. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
Cheers,
Peter.
I apologise in advance for the following rant, but I need to get something off my chest to this great group of like minded individuals. I am an Australian guy, in my late 40's and I like to dress well, hence I am a member here. I don't post often and my life doesn't always allow me to dress in the way I would like to, but when I get the chance I suit up!
I have been waiting a long time to get the call up for Jury Duty and that finally happened late last year. Today I attended the court as I had been earmarked for serving on a Jury, so I put on my Brooks Brothers navy pinstripe suit, a white spread collar, double cuff shirt and and a grey, black and white striped tie. I would have worn my waistcoat if it was winter, but it's summer here and hot! When I turned up at the court I was floored by what I saw in the line of potential jurors. The men were mainly wearing shorts, t-shirts and some of them were wearing thongs (for our American friends you'd call them flip-flops I think)!! Not tailored shorts but cargo shorts. One even had a t-shirt with the slogan on it "My Guitar wants to kill yo mama"!!! Some of the girls were wearing singlet tops, jeans and sneakers. Now if you knew me you would know that I am not a snob, far from it. I hold myself to a standard of dress and whatever anyone else decides to wear is not in my control nor is it my right to treat anyone differently because of how they dress. I may not like what you are wearing but I'd never criticize you for it. I know we all make judgements and so I will come across as judgemental in this post, but to me there are certain places where standards are to be upheld, and a court of law is one of those places. You don't dress like you are going to the beach when you go to court, regardless of why you are there. I dressed seriously because being on a jury is a serious matter! You have someone's life and future in your hands. I thought about taking my tie off, but didn't because I thought about the gravity of the situation and decided that how I was dressed was entirely appropriate and why shouldn't I wear a suit and tie if I want to. I could wear one to do groceries if I like.
So the process begins. Can you go the day without having a smoke? I don't smoke. Have you parked somewhere where you won't need to move your car? Yes. Next stage is going up to the courtroom. More opportunities to be excused come about, but they're not relevant to me so I am still in the running to be selected. Next all of our juror numbers are placed in a ballot box. There's about 50 of us and they are selecting 12 jurors, so it is completely random, and amazingly I get picked. I'm never picked in a raffle, but i get picked for this and I am ok with it. I move up the court and actually sit in the jury box. I'm thinking that I might actually get the chance to serve on a jury! You're probably all thinking I'm mad to even want to, but I see it as my duty and was happy to do it. Anyway I wait while they pick the rest of the jury. The next step is that we each have to stand as our number is called and either the defence or prosecution can challenge us. It's my time to stand and the defence attorney simply says the word "Challenge" and with that I am out of the jury. It turns out I am the only one the gets challenged, and the only man in the jury panel wearing a tie. I am excused and that's it. The day is done.
As I sit here writing this I am frustrated with the process. I am frustrated that people think it is suitable to turn up for jury duty dressed like you are going to the beach or mowing the lawn. But mostly I am frustrated that the sole reason I was excused from the jury that I really wanted to serve on is that I am a white, middle aged man, dressed in a suit and wearing a tie. There was nothing else they knew about me at that stage. It really irks me that standards have slipped so far that people wear the outfits they do to court, with the hope of being excused, and I get as close as possible to serving, but I am excused simply because I am dressed the way a lawyer or officer of the court would be expected to dress! How does that work? I have had a few friends tell me that the defence will routinely dismiss men who wear ties from juries, as they are seen as upper class and not your average Australian and that in itself is disgusting as I could sit there and suspend my judgement very easily and judge on the basis of the evidence. I know it is somewhat ironic I am bemoaning how people dress for court and that I was also dismissed for what I was wearing, but I felt how I presented myself was the right way to go. The frustration is that it is obviously not the norm and if I ever want to serve on a jury I will need to lower my standards to present a certain image. It just doesn't make sense and I won't do it. A jury is supposed to represent a cross section of the community and some of us white, middle class men like to wear a suit and tie. If you were doing jury duty what would you wear?
Apologies for the rant. I'd appreciate your thoughts on the matter.
Cheers,
Peter.
