a survey for jury duty before, though I have only served as a juror once.
This may be of interest to you, though I do not know how it is reguarded by DU'ers. Never seen a discussion about it on DU.
http://www.fija.org/"Welcome
Welcome to the official web site of the American Jury Institute/Fully Informed Jury Association (AJI/FIJA). The AJI/FIJA mission is to inform all Americans about their rights, powers and responsibilities when serving as trial jurors. AJI/FIJA also seeks to restore the political function of the jury as the final check and balance on our American system of government."
Edited to add:
http://nowscape.com/fija/_brand.htm"DIANA BRANDBORG V. JURY QUESTIONNAIRE"
"Showdown on Juror Privacy in Denton, TX
by Larry Dodge"
The dawn's early light had just barely given way to broad daylight on the morning of
February 10 when the first call came in to me regarding the case of Diana Brandborg.
Diana Brandborg had the day before been cited for contempt of court and sentenced to
three days in jail and a fine of $200 by Denton County Judge Ira Sam Houston for refusing
to answer some of the questions on a jurors' questionnaire sent to her as a member of the
pool from which a jury would ultimately be empaneled for the capital murder trial of James
Clark."
"But Mrs. Brandborg felt that the 14-page mail-back questionnaire asked several things that
were "too personal", and were not pertinent to the case, so she marked "N/A" to questions
about her income, her religion, and her organizational memberships, among others, and
returned the form with a letter to the judge explaining why she did what she did.
Thus began what has turned into a dramatic confrontation between parts of the legal
establishment and a growing group of citizens who have apparently long been looking for
someone with the nerve to tell the government, on this and other matters, "None of your
business!" "
And this:
http://nowscape.com/fija/_dbwins.htm"DIANNA WINS!"
"Chalk one up for a juror's right to privacy
Dianna Brandborg, cited for contempt of court in Denton, Texas nearly a year and a half ago for refusing to answer several questions on a juror questionnaire, has apparently prevailed in her appeal of that charge. Hers was the first recorded case in the United States in which a contempt citation had been issued to a potential juror for refusal to answer voir dire questions on grounds that they were invasions of privacy. "
"Her argument was that the questions were not only too personal, but irrelevant to juror qualification for the murder case which she would have judged if she had been empaneled. On June 18, federal magistrate Robert Faulkner agreed, concluding that it appeared District Judge Ira Sam Houston had not considered the relevance of the questions, or balanced the defendant's right to an impartial jury with the juror's right to privacy. "
"Brandborg's victory didn't come easily. Her attorney, Rick Hagen, filed an appeal on her behalf immediately after Judge Houston issued the citation, so that she never had to spend the three days in jail or pay the $200 fine Houston imposed. So far, so good. But the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals then decided not to rule on the case, so Hagen had to refile the appeal in federal court. According to Denton FIJA activist Ross Melton, who attended the federal court hearing this past January, it seemed then that Dianna's attorney made the better arguments, and that the judge was receptive."
"But months more passed before the decision was issued, at which point Houston tried to get Denton County to appeal the case on his behalf. But the county government had apparently had enough, especially with the Republican Party, dominant in the vicinity, applying what is alleged to have been "considerable pressure" to stop wasting taxpayer money and to spare Mrs. Brandborg further agony."
Is this a scenario similar to what you are asking?