Jury Duty

[Tamera]

I got a card in the mail stating I am on call for Jury Duty Feb 2 and 3rd. I called the Court up and advised them that I was Transgendered and what was their policy. They told me that I could go as Tamera and when I sign in, sign in as Tamera and put my male name in() after that. I am excited and have butterflies in my stomach at the same time. I have a real nice pant suit I will be wearing. My first thing to go through will be the security checkpoint at the entrance of the building. Has anyone else ever done this or something similiar?
Hugs,
Tamera

[DonnaT]

I haven't, but know of a cuple who have.

Be prepared to answer questions about it, one of which might be "Is this a ploy to get out of jury duty?"

[Sheila]

I think intertwined may have done and posted pics of how he/she was dressed

[cindym5_04]

Please keep us updated on what happens!

[Intertwined]

Has anyone else ever done this or something similiar?
Hugs,
Tamera

Sorry guys, I almost quit the forum. I need to reload all my pictures.

My Jury Duty experience was a little different, I do not try to pass as a female, I dress in a 50/50 Masculine/Feminine.

Here is what I wore to court, the only problem I had is I had to go through a metal detector, and with all the metal in the corset, and D-rings on the floor lenth skirt, the sherriffs officer just looked at me, grinned, and said, lift it! I could hide a lot of weapons in that skirt, and they had to check, I was smiling and joking with them and they were cool about it. I am sure I was talked about a lot that day by the sherriffs, wound up in a jury pool for a murder trial, but never got called up to ask questions, darn...

[tanyalynn51]

Good luck with Jury Duty. It should be exciting. Do expect to be asked about it being a ploy to get out of JD- one of my best friends is a lawyer (yes, I even admit it), and he has told me a few stories....

[tamarav]

[SIZE=4]When the male portion of me got a jury duty notice I went totally dressed in a very nice suit and "acceptable" hair. When I checked in I simply told the bailiff that I was dressed for my job and was expecting to be able to go to work that afternoon. I got a lot of looks and really looked at funny when they called my male name and I stood up. [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4][/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]I did get on a jury and spent just a little over two hours deliberating on a drug possession case. All of my fellow jury members were very nice and I did get a few questions about how I was dressed but when I told them I was a hairstylist and makeup artist they all just nodded. Go figure. What a hoot![/SIZE]

[Karren H]

All right!! I had jury duty last year and I was seriously debating about going enfemme.. But decided not to and when I walked in there was a friend and coworker in the same jury pool!! But here's a hint if you don't want to get picked.. They did not choose well dressed, educated men.. Which I and my friend were.. They did choose poorly dressed, middle aged women, mainly.. So if maybe you want to dress up a bit rather than dress down!!

[StephanieT]

Being dressed up and educated didn't work for me. I ended up on a child abuse case. What they didn't know is I was abused as a child. They don't give you all the information before the trial starts. After the trial started at Lunch time, I told the judge and there was a mistrial.

[cindym5_04]

Usually here, they at least tell you what kind of a case it is and if anyone has any kind of relation to that case or the type of case, it's dealt with before the final jury is selected.

[Christinedreamer]

I was called for jury duty in Dalls a while back and was determined not to waste my time. The parking rates for the only garage withing blocks of the courthouse are more than the daily fee paid to jurors.

When I went in to the jury pool room I struck up a converstaion with another guy who was self employed as am I and we commiserated about losing valuable time and money when neither of us has any faith in the judicial system anyway. We started talking about how we woould treat a child molester, gang member drug dealer and most espeically what we thought about liars, err sorry, lawyers.

We talked loud enough to easily be overheard. Needless to say we were out of there and on our way home withing an hour and a half.

My BIL is an attorney so I have been privvy to many of the courtroom tricks and histrionics they use.

Until they decide to force the lawyers to tell the truth, whole truth, and nuttin but the truth I will never serve on a jury.

[Barbra_in_Tulsa]

I worked a case (as an intern for the public defender's office) where we had a TG/CD on the jury panel, I made sure we got her on the jury. She really made the prosecutor uncomfortable, it was awesome. But she (the TG on the jury) was treated by everyone with the absolute utmost respect. Best of luck.

[linnea]

This would be very interesting. I haven't been called for jury duty for a long time; maybe my femme time is due!

[Tamera]

Thanx girls for all your input. Nice outfit Intertwined by the way. Looks like I will have a positive experience and that little by little TG's in the public eye is just like your average Joe. I have asked the same question to my 2 support groups I belong to and have gotten similiar responses. The questions the lawyers will ask really don't bother me. number one I know that they have to be professional and two I am going as the girl I should have been in the first place. The other thing is, is when I am at a restaurant or shopping and whatever I use the ladies bathroom. I wonder if there will be a bathroom issue at the courthouse?????
Hugs,
Tamera

[JoAnne Wheeler]

Being familiar with the Court system, I would be hesitant to come to jury duty dressed. You WILL be scrutinized very heavily. Unless you are a masochist or intestinal fortitude of steel, I would not advise it. I have actually witnessed this before - NOT GOOD
JoAnne Wheeler

[Tashee]

A homophobic whatever made a scene at our court house. When the poor Lady left we were waiting to cuff her. It sucked! I hated it. She was harassed and harassed. The tables turned shortly with a counter suit a wrongful police report etc. But the damage was done.

I see extreme cases it makes me jaded. best of luck to you.

[Paulacder]

I have served on Jury Duty a couple times but never as Paula. The only problem I can see is during the jury selection process questions will be asked directly to you from the Prosecutor and the Defense Attorney. Some of the questions may be personal in nature. These questions are asked in front of the rest of the prospective jurors and the Judge. I'm not sure I would want to share transitions questions the might be asked. But Good Luck.....

[StaceyJane]

I did jury duty a year ago and I got a lot out of it. Although we did have to pronouce a man "not guilty" even though we felt he probably did it. The processcution just did not provide any real evidence to support the story.
Now I didn't try to go en femme but now that I think about it hummmmm.....

[Intertwined]

I gave a lot of hard thought to the questions I might be asked if I made it up to the point of being picked.

To the most obvious question " Are you dressed like that to try and get out of jury duty? " what I was planning on saying " NO, I am dressed like this, because this is who I am, and if I get choosen, or not choosen to be on this jury, I want it to be for 'Who I Am and not a facade', anything else would be unfair to the deffendant"

In that skirt and corset, I wound up in a jury pool, that took 2 days to seat the jury. It was a murder trial, I never made it to the jury box for questioning, but if I had, I don't think I would have ever been choosen, but, not for the crossdressing, one of the standard questions they asked all the prospective jurours was " Do you have any relatives convicted of a crime? ", where I have to answer, " Yes ", my stepfather is serving a Life sentance for 1st degree murder, I think that would have blown my chances at a murder case.

[Christina Horton]

[[/QUOTE]

Love your outfit


I would love to CD for jury duty. I got out of one years ago. I drive truck long haul and told the powers that be I would not be able to be there cuz I would most likey be out of the country and could not aford to spend the time , I would lose to much money. They let me off but If I was cding then I would have done if glady. It would be fun to be dressed up and be in a jury.

Good luck HUN HUGGS

[Stephanie Scott]

I have served on Jury Duty a couple times but never as Paula. The only problem I can see is during the jury selection process questions will be asked directly to you from the Prosecutor and the Defense Attorney. Some of the questions may be personal in nature. These questions are asked in front of the rest of the prospective jurors and the Judge. I'm not sure I would want to share transitions questions the might be asked. But Good Luck.....

Every judge handles their courtrooms and the voir dire process differently. Personal questions can usually be answered at sidebar, if someone is uncomfortable answering in front of the rest of the jurors.

Every case and every lawyer is different about "stereotyping." Jury selection isn't a science; it is an art. One can't say that lawyers "usually pick" or "usually don't pick" -- especially based on a given person's limited individual exposure to serving on juries. A juror who might be great for one case could be lousy for another (e.g., someone who was the victim of child abuse may not be the most objective trier of fact in a child abuse prosecution but might be a great juror for a civil torts lawsuit or something).

Next to military service, I believe jury service to be the highest calling of our citizenry.

The system isn't perfect because it is ... well ... run by imperfect humans, but it actually is a great system and works as it is designed most of the time. Most jurors end up being glad that they served, and most juries do the right thing.

[Christina Nicole]

All right!! I had jury duty last year and I was seriously debating about going enfemme.. But decided not to and when I walked in there was a friend and coworker in the same jury pool!! But here's a hint if you don't want to get picked.. They did not choose well dressed, educated men.. Which I and my friend were.. They did choose poorly dressed, middle aged women, mainly.. So if maybe you want to dress up a bit rather than dress down!!

Agree with Karren. Everytime I've been in a jury pool I saw a lot of people I know. If you are not out, then don't go en-femme. Also agree with being well dressed. I always wear an expensive suit and always get challenged by the defense attorney. A prosecutor I know says that the defense prefers ignorant people since they are easier to sway, and have problems evaluating and weighting complex facts.

A homophobic whatever made a scene at our court house. When the poor Lady left we were waiting to cuff her. It sucked! I hated it. She was harassed and harassed. The tables turned shortly with a counter suit a wrongful police report etc. But the damage was done.

I see extreme cases it makes me jaded. best of luck to you.

There must be more to that story. What charge was brought that she was arrested?

Warm regards,
Christina Nicole