Cat called for jury duty

[marmar]

No one likes jury duty. The mindless waiting, missing work and general boredom.

No doubt, Sal the cat feels the same.

The Massachusetts cat has been called for jury duty.

The problem arose after Sal’s owners, Anna and Guy Esposito of Boston, Mass., filled out the latest U.S. census form listing him as part of the family but as a cat, WHDH-TV reported.

When the family received Sal’s jury duty notice earlier this month, Anna filed for Sal’s disqualification of service, choosing his reason as he is “unable to speak and understand English” out of the 10 other statutory disqualifications listed by the Massachusetts Judicial Branch, KGW.com reported. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/922127--boston-cat-called-for-jury-duty?bn=1

[slackmaster]

1. A cat would never make it through Voir Dire

Especially on a criminal case in which the defendant is a dog.

[boston bean]

2. one meow guilty, two meows not guilty. nt

[petronius]

3. It would be the defense attorney who challenged - a jury of cats would be

a prosecutor's wet dream: "We don't know if he's guilty, Your Honor, but we're bored so we're gonna slap him around with our claws for a couple of hours then take a nap..."

[kimi]

17. LOL

Thanks for this laugh!

[GentryDixon]

34. The face rub would be a good sign for the DA.

:)

[MilesColtrane]

36. A cat could be empaneled if the attorney for the defendant was Purry Mason.

[pinboy3niner]

52. Maybe they have a feliny trial coming up

:evilgrin:

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. So, how many more pets were listed on the census?

And will there be a fine for being fucking stupid for anyone caught like this?

[Blue-Jay]

5. What kind of moron lists a pet on the census?

[Princess Turandot]

30. If you watch the video, it appears that pets were a category on the form..

The newsreader noted that the owners 'crossed out 'dog' and printed 'cat' on the form. There are local census surveys done - it was likely one of those, not a federal one.

[Le Taz Hot]

32. It had to be a local one.

I worked for the census for almost a year and there were NO questions about pets.

[Gormy Cuss]

53. MA has an annual state census and IIRC it did ask about # of dogs. n/t

[treestar]

6. Reminds me of a cartoon

a lawyer dog tells a client dog it does not look good - the jury is 12 shrieking cats!

[rocktivity]

8. I saw a cartoon of Michael Vick in a courtroom

getting the evil eye from a jury consisting of Snoopy, Scooby Doo, Astro, Droopy, Underdog...

On edit: Woohoo, I found it!



:rofl:
rocktivity

[kimi]

20. I had to look this cartoon up

Thanks! Oh, you did too!

And there's Underdog, Astro from the Jetsons and Ren from Ren and Stimpy. LOL

[davidinalameda]

24. I love Ren and Stimpy

:applause: :woohoo:

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

38. Ren will make sure he gets the chair.

(Runs to Goofy, grabs his collar) "What do you mean, cruel and unusual punishment?"

(Runs to Astro, does the bug-eye-crazy look into his eyes) "He eviscerated canines for FUN!!!"

(Runs to Scooby) "MAIMED!!!"

(Runs to Droopy) "BLOODIED!!!"

(Runs to Snoopy) "IMMOLATED!!!!"

(Runs to Underdog, suddenly switches to the "meh" expression) "Yeah, you're invulnerable." (Does operatic dramatic pose) "YOU'LL NEVER KNOW HOW IT FEELS LIKE!"

(Underdog feels bad, tries to reach to Ren) (Ren collapses in tears) "BOOOOOOO HOOOO HOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

[TroglodyteScholar]

51. Very nice! n/t

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

40. I can't remember where the yellow dog between Droopy and Ren is from.

Help?

[boppers]

42. Mother Goose and Grimm.

http://www.grimmy.com/

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

44. (Browse a bit) Weak, unfunny cartoon. (Closes tab)

[Gemini Cat]

43. Grimm or Grim

I think he's from Mother Goose and Grim.

[Rhiannon12866]

41. +1

:thumbsup:

[kestrel91316]

7. Um, just one little problem with this story: the Census Bureau is statutorily barred from releasing

details of census forms other than numerical data to ANYONE else (and that includes the IRS and ICE and presumably County courts) for a period of 72 years from the census date. They guard the info very tightly.

SO - either somebody illegally accessed census details (names!!!!!) or somebody is not telling the truth about how they got the name.

I might note that the way you get on jury duty lists in Los Angeles County is by REGISTERING TO VOTE. Did this family register their cat to vote so they can vote in his name and thereby commit voter fraud??

[ZombieHorde]

11. Well that is interesting. I think jury duty is based off of voter registration in my State too. nt

[jp11]

12. I imagined something along what you are describing that the owners used the cat's name with theirs

to file some forms, probably something with the government but I don't know.

Will be interesting to see what comes of this should it get followed up on.

[SoCalNative]

18. Not just voter registration in California, even L.A. anymore

they also pull names from DMV records.

[Raine]

28. Yes, you are exactly correct. nt

[DCKit]

22. +1

Not to mention, no SS or drivers license.

[davidinalameda]

25. or by getting a driver license

is the cat's name Toonces?

[PoliticAverse]

47. Interesting question...

Clearly this story needs more research done to find out what really happened.

How Massachusetts makes its jury list: http://www.mass.gov/courts/jury/the.htm

[pipi_k]

48. In MA, you also get on jury lists

by having a vehicle registered in your name.

In fact, there are a number of ways you get on those lists here.


So maybe the cat owns a really cool car or something.... :D

[Gormy Cuss]

54. As a former MA resident I think it's from the state census data.

The state census data was used for several routine data cleaning activities, first of which was comparing the census data to voter registration lists. IIRC the cities and towns were required to conduct the census and forward the data to the state.

eta: just watched the WHDH TV video and they say "census," not U.S. census.

[Kennah]

9. Do you require special accommodations?

That question and the answer of "a bowl of milk and a litter box" should have been a clue.

[NYC_SKP]

10. Well it's not like the cat has a job or other important things to do.

So I'm not gonna defend this critter.

Serve, cat. It's your civic duty.

:P

[MattBaggins]

13. I would have never filled out the disqualification papers

I would have brought the cat in to serve on a jury.

[kimi]

15. Yeah, this!!

The cat would have been as good as, if not better, than some "average" jury candidates.

[JoePhilly]

35. You could say that your cat can tell if a person is guility right away ...

If the cat goes over to the accused and rubs up against them, the accused is innocent ... if not, GUILTY!!!

[SoCalNative]

14. Since when was the Census allowed to be used

for potential jury pools?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

26. someone is fudging on how the cat's name got out

the Census does NOT turn over that information...unless the cat is about 80 human years old...

sP

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. Damn we did not list the kids

jury duty Kookie? SQUAAAKKKK! (He'll gladly beak anybody)

Jury duty Connie? Loud SQUAAAAKKKK (hey praise the parrot)

Apart of that... WTF? Census data are not released... beyond ones and zeros that is.

[Hissyspit]

19. I served on a jury with Sal The Cat

Of course, I am a fictional Damon Runyon charater.

[Sabriel]

21. I just talked to Pepper and Saffy

They say they're ready to fulfill their duties as a citizen of the United States.

And unlike that jury-dodger, Sal, they're perfectly able to speak and understand English...they just choose not to.

[canoeist52]

23. Our MA town does a yearly household person and pet count.

I think that's where we get our jury pool from. The pet and person box probably were switched.

[eridani]

27. Why didn't the census supervisor catch that one?

Wouldn't have gotten past my crew.

[varkam]

29. I would stuff my pockets full of catnip before doing my closing argument.

:D

[NuclearDem]

31. Juror 12, please stop sniffing Juror 11

JUROR 11 HAS FISH YOUR HONOR

Juror 12, Juror 11 does not have fish.

MEOW PURR IM BORED YOUR HONOR JUROR 12 IS TAKING A NAP

[pipi_k]

49. And please refrain from licking your ass until the next break...

Hey, animals in court could really spice things up....

:D

[felix_numinous]

33. Register him as a Republican

and run him in 2012, no one would notice.

[Kurovski]

37. Why didn't they teach him English!!??

I cannot express to you the level of my rage at this injustice!!!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

39. I would like to be tried by a jury of my purrers.

Good luck keeping a jury of cats awake through a whole trial, though. Or even voir dire.

[steve2470]

45. Can she raise her right paw and swear an oath ? :p nt

[lonestarnot]

46. Oh, snort.

:rofl: Cat box, jury box whateva.

[pipi_k]

50. OK, kidding aside...

they could have saved everybody a lot of time and trouble by CALLING the Jury Commission and explaining to them.

Any time I've had to speak with them, they've always been reasonable and helpful.


I have a feeling that if they actually go through with bringing the cat to court, they'll find the judge not so amused.