vorpal_blade
2010-03-09 01:05 pm UTC (link)

I was also summoned for jury duty when I had a toddler and was nursing my second child, and also a year and a half earlier, when I was nursing the first one. I was summoned again after I was in an accident and was going through intensive physical therapy as part of my recovery--hours and hours each day. You just don't go under these circumstances. My county understands this. You send the summons back with the explanation of why you can't serve. The judge is a moron, sure, but whoever told her she'd be arrested was also a dope. Where I live they can't MAKE you pay money for childcare you normally wouldn't be paying out if you're the primary caregiver for your kids, not when they only pay you $9 a day for jury duty (that was what it was when my kids were little) and don't provide vetted daycare for jurors. Having a physical reason why you can't serve, like taking care of your children or going through physical therapy, means you don't have to go in, period. If that's not the law in Oakland County they are seriously messed up there.

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	wolfshark 2010-03-09 01:32 pm UTC (link)
	In Maryland, they tell you upfront that the only way to get out of jury duty is to be going in for open heart surgery, or equivalent. They also tell you that you will be resummoned after a reasonable recovery period. There are no allowances made for child care, business owners, etc etc. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	melannen 2010-03-09 06:57 pm UTC (link)
	...I live in Maryland. I got out of jury duty for final exams. My mother got out for child care. Neither of us was given any hassle and neither of us was summoned for years afterward. So, I dunno what the law is, but that is not my experience. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	wolfshark 2010-03-09 08:08 pm UTC (link)
	Maybe it's a Montgomery County thing, because when I was summoned two years ago, they told us not to bother to even ask... Or maybe the law has changed in the intervening time, which I hope is the case! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	miraba 2010-03-09 10:18 pm UTC (link)
	I believe it's MoCo. My bf had a conflict with jury duty and couldn't get out of it. PG summoned him less than a year later. The counties are not very smart with figuring out where people actually live. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	melannen 2010-03-09 10:24 pm UTC (link)
	If the law has changed, it changed in the opposite direction, alas, because both of the times I mentioned where more than two years ago. But it makes sense that it would be a county-by-county thing; I'm in Anne Arundel. (Reply to this)(Parent)

cereta
2010-03-09 01:54 pm UTC (link)

Hell, when I was summoned in AZ, I was able to request a deferment until summer just on the basis that it would be easier to juggle my job at that point. My county here in IL sends out forms routinely asking when your best months would be.

I get that it's a challenge to staff juries when so many people try to get out of it, but a little reasonableness goes a long way.

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kosaginolegion
2010-03-09 02:17 pm UTC (link)

Y'know, it occurs to me that I've never been in a position where I had to avoid jury duty and so don't know how our jurisdiction reacts to those little things life throws at you. Of course, seeing as how our county seat is almost stereotypically redneck, I'm going to hope never to have to defer.

I'd like to add, "Icon Love". I have no idea who that young lady is, but she's gorgeous.

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	cereta 2010-03-09 02:46 pm UTC (link)
	It's fanart of Susannah Dean from the Dark Tower series. The full pic is here. And I'm not gonna lie: one of my greatest fears is getting jury duty and then having kiddo get sick. It already happened when I had to go in to show my insurance info. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	kosaginolegion 2010-03-09 03:02 pm UTC (link)
	As time goes on I keep getting reminded of just how damn fortunate I am. I will hope that some of that fortune gets shared out and you don't ever have to choose between child and other responsibilities. Went and put that pic on my favorites. Dark Tower isn't one of my interests but I very much like the young lady's attitude. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ruslan 2010-03-11 01:55 am UTC (link)
	Oh, you know, I always kind of wondered who that lady in the icon was too. (I'm gonna have to read these books.) She looks a lot like this model, doesn't she? (Reply to this)(Parent)

vorpal_blade
2010-03-09 02:29 pm UTC (link)

I did go in twice when there was nothing stopping me, but the first time they simply filled up the juries before they got to me and the second time that happened, too. Since it's one-day-or-one-trial here that was it for me both times. Not a big deal. An extended trial would have been a problem, so it's a good thing I wasn't selected; there's no one else to do my job so this would have been a hardship for both my employer and me, since a replacement person would have needed to be found and then the replacement would have been making my salary, not me. (Very tiny budget, very small business, and the government doesn't foot the bill for both me and my replacement to get paid.)

All counties that want more jurors should make top-notch daycare available for kids under school age who are potty-trained, and jurors taking care of their kids shouldn't be put on panels where they need to be sequestered and can't just go home at the end of each day. I remember now that I was summoned another time after my kids were in school, but since I was the one who had to pick them up after school every day I couldn't serve--there was just no one else to do this and they were too young to come home on their own and be at home unsupervised until I returned home. And damn if I was going to pay for someone to do that; if the government wanted to pay for it that would be one thing, but they wouldn't have.

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	librarianmouse 2010-03-09 04:16 pm UTC (link)
	I'm in AZ, and the last time I got a jury summons, they let me CHOOSE a later date that was more convenient for me. (Reply to this)(Parent)

agent_hyatt
2010-03-09 10:14 pm UTC (link)

My county here in IL sends out forms routinely asking when your best months would be.

*snarky* And do they actually take those forms into account? */snarky*

Hampshire County, MA apparently doesn't. They were quite willing to give me deferment after deferment, but seemingly incapable of reassigning me a date when I'd actually be in the state. Despite telling them which months I would be able to serve. Eventually, my mom and I just called the jury commission up when I was home and told them to schedule me ASAP. As a result, I was at the very bottom of the juror pool the day I went in, and they filled the jury well before my number.

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witty
2010-03-10 12:09 am UTC (link)

That county is bananas, by the way. They summoned me despite my legal residence being in another state. (I didn't even file MA-PY taxes, as I didn't make enough money in MA.) They routinely summon non-US citizens (mostly students), and thus get a ridiculously low report rate, not to mention a high WTF rate among the students.

Surely there are ways to make sure in advance you're not summoning citizens of Bangladesh to serve on a Hampshire Country jury! The state website goes on and on about the rights and responsibilities of citizenship, but seem unclear on the idea that you could possibly be a citizen of any other county.

(That sound you hear is me knocking wood, as I have not been called for duty in 13 years.)

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	rimrunner 2010-03-10 02:44 am UTC (link)
	Hmm, interesting. I'd assumed I got summoned because I registered to vote there while I was a student at Smith. Mind you, by the time the summons came, I'd moved to Washington State. I called up to explain and they excused me. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	agent_hyatt 2010-03-11 12:32 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, they do seem to be pretty understanding about not being able to serve. Just... the bureaucracy of assigning jurors and dates is fucked up. (Reply to this)(Parent)

inalasahl
2010-03-09 05:10 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, where I live being a nursing mother is an automatic out for jury duty if you ask to be excused (if you want to serve, you're allowed), and the court has no discretion over it.

It's pretty flexible in other circumstances, too. I see this judge detained a University student who got called up during mid-terms. I got called up for the week before finals once, and it was no problem to get rescheduled for summer break.

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b_jellybean
2010-03-10 11:23 am UTC (link)

That's why I find this so interesting-- I live in basically the next county over (Wayne) and my mom was able to get completely out of jury duty by claiming childcare (true) and the inability to drive (false, but in her defense she was doing it because she was petrified of the experience, not because she was lazy.) Likewise, when I requested a deferment for finals, I was able to name the time period when I'd be able to serve hassle-free.

What I find especially interesting is that Oakland is stereotypically one of the wealthier counties.

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	darksumomo 2010-03-11 04:14 am UTC (link)
	Hi, neighbor! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	b_jellybean 2010-03-11 12:39 pm UTC (link)
	Howdy! Apparently my work internet blocks flickr (but not jf; apparently it flies below the education radar) but I am sure I will be giggling at the picture when I get home. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	darksumomo 2010-03-11 03:16 pm UTC (link)
	You may not be giggling that hard. The image is "Detroit, where the weak are killed and eaten." It's one of my icons over on LiveJournal. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	lazzchan 2010-03-09 02:47 pm UTC (link)
	The only time I was summoned for jury duty was after I already moved out of the state -- and out of the country -- at that point. :P My parents had sent me a bunch of random mail and I was like "...wtf." to the jury summons; I hadn't lived in that state for at least four years at that point. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	agent_hyatt 2010-03-09 10:16 pm UTC (link)
	Good thing you didn't have that judge. He'd probably want to extradite you, since living outside of the country is no excuse for not serving on his jury! (Reply to this)(Parent)

sneer
2010-03-09 05:36 pm UTC (link)

When I was in the military, I happened to get a summons while I was home on leave, so I kind of went "lol, k" and called up to explain the situation.

I got hold of someone, said "I can't come to this because I am in the military and stationed several thousand miles away, and may very well be several thousand more miles away by the time the date on this thing comes around."

The nice lady I'd gotten hold of reacted as if I'd told her she'd been walking around with the back of her skirt tucked into her pantyhose all day, apologized profusely, and told me not to even worry about it and to have a nice day.

And then a year or so there was another summons in with the bunch of mail that had come to my dad's house, I called them from my room on the other side of the fucking country to explain the situation, and the person I got hold of that time asked me why I couldn't just take a couple of days of leave. When I explained that you do not just ~*~take a couple of days of leave,~*~ especially not to go to the other side of the fucking country for JURY DUTY, she got all pissy and put me on hold, after which she came back and begrudgingly told me I was excused. Maybe she was new, but wow.

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cat_mcdougall
2010-03-09 07:45 pm UTC (link)

The only time I was called for jury duty, I got the summons the day after Memorial Day. I called, said I couldn't come in to serve. When asked my reason: "I could go into labour any day with twins." They asked for PROOF from my doc, that this was the case. A couple phone calls, a couple faxes, and it was all taken care of. They DID however, later send me a carefully worded letter that read a lot like "We WILL call you again!" They haven't called yet.

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	wtf 2010-03-09 08:02 pm UTC (link)
	My husband had his (federal) jury duty deferred with a note from his boss, and they sent a letter that said "you are eligible to be called again on or after March 1." We were wondering what the actual chances would be, until sure as sunshine he was recalled on March 1 exactly. It was actually sort of funny. (Reply to this)(Parent)

wtf
2010-03-09 07:58 pm UTC (link)

This sort of scares me because I've been thinking about this exact thing all day; my husband is serving jury duty today.

I'm a stay-at-home mom, and I'm glad to know that most judges are lenient towards that sort of thing. I'm really glad I don't live in this asshole's district.

p.s. cool story bro: My husband is serving federal jury duty today, and they do things weird. He has to call in every day for two weeks. They made him come in a week ago Monday (day 1), then he was off all week, and then yesterday and today he's had to go in. Weird.

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dejana
2010-03-09 09:50 pm UTC (link)

That's the way it works in my hometown county. I had to call in every day after 5 PM to find out if I was supposed to come in the next morning, which was a giant pain in the ass since I was a student and couldn't give my teachers or boss any warning that I'd be gone the next day. I couldn't find out until after business hours. WTF.

Fortunately, I only had to go in once, and the judge ended up deciding she needed to hear some evidence in chambers before proceeding and sent everyone home.

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ahiru
2010-03-10 01:32 am UTC (link)

That's about how it works where I am too. I actually just got summoned a week or so ago for next month. I have to call in every day (or check the Internet) after 3 to see if my number's called for the next day. Luckily that gives me time to tell my boss (since I'm usually at work at 3) but it's still such a bother, especially since it doesn't give my supervisor too much time to screw with the schedule to make sure my shift is covered if I get called.

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sizer
2010-03-10 09:27 am UTC (link)

I've had to fax the Parish and State governments various documents multiple times in order to prove that I live abroad and thus could not serve on any juries, despite having sent many notifications that I was moving abroad (mail, voting, taxes, etc.). The first time that I was called, I had my mother (legally-designated executor) contact them to explain that I was living abroad, and the response was that I had to "get home or provide proof". My temporary residence card didn't have English on it, nor did my work contact, so they refused to accept them as "it could be anything" (I then sent them a copy of my visa, which thankfully had an English translation beneath, but wtf orleans parish).

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	honorh 2010-03-10 09:56 am UTC (link)
	This would be my nightmare. I live in Japan, and I'm rather paranoid about Alaska calling me in for jury duty. Hopefully, my company could take care of it, but the last thing I need is some anal-retentive judge going all tin-god over it. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	taktuk 2010-03-10 10:54 am UTC (link)
	They use the PFD rolls, last I checked. At least, NSB and whatever borough Fairbanks is in do. Man, some days I miss pilot bread. /OT (Reply to this)(Parent)

major_fischer
2010-03-11 03:48 am UTC (link)

I was a student when I was called and because the trial was expected to only be three days long I given a note from the court informing my professors that they were required to excuse me. But that was North Carolina and the jury experiance was relatively painless.

My sister was a graduate student in Philadelphia and actually got called and seated on a death penalty trial. Again, they didn't excuse her for being a student. Her department was sympathetic at least. She also got called in Michigan for a giant mess of a trial involving prison guards raping female prisoners. The defense lawyer asked her if sex between a guard and a prisoner could be consentual, my sister being a sociologist responded with something like "I don't see how that wouldn't have an element of cohersion" and the judge freaked out because the question was a basic finding of fact in the case. Still, she was excused.

My parents have a gift for getting out of jury duty. My father keeps getting tossed for being too well educated (he's literally been told this before). My mother also got tossed for knowing too much (she's an automotive engineer and the case was a civil case involving car malfunctions). My mother was also called for a case being tried by my father's divorce lawyer... she got out of that one quickly. And most recently she was dismissed because one of the lawyers knew her. Even though she for the life of her couldn't remember him.

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	octopedingenue 2010-03-12 12:41 am UTC (link)
	Still, she was excused. Because heaven forbid that juries include people who will understand things about the evidence being presented to them! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	major_fischer 2010-03-12 06:53 am UTC (link)
	Well, we are talking about the guy defending the prison guards caught having sex with female inmates... (Reply to this)(Parent)