Jury Duty

[anniemae]

I got a notice for jury duty the other day. I am fine going on the day I am scheduled, which is a Tuesday. I am also okay to serve on Wed, if I get picked for a trial. The problem is that I leave for vacation on Thurs. If I got to the point where I get picked, I believe they ask for anyone to go up and talk to the judge if they have an excuse as to why they can't be placed on a jury. Then I would be excused and I believe I would have fulfilled my duty and can't get picked for another 3 or 4 years.

Would you do that or reschedule? I believe I can change the date but I want to get it out of the way and if it I get picked for a one or two day trial I am fine with that. I just can't do longer.

 

[tvguy]

I would just reschedule to a time when you have several weeks clear. Even on a simple case, just jury selection can take a few days.

 

[NYCgrrl]

If you are vacationing two days after jury duty begins I would reschedule assuming I had that option.

 

[disneychrista]

You should be able to postpone your service if you can.

 

[Meriweather]

I would reschedule.......but when I called to do that very recently, I was advised to wait for the phone call to see if I was dismissed (if your area does that) and I was.
We can only reschedule twice and it 30-60 days out. I had a lot of things coming so didn't want to take the chance of hitting something else.

 

[mjkacmom]

Reschedule. The first question they ask is if there is any reason you can’t fulfill your duty, so you would say yes. I don’t know if that gets you out of the pool for several years.

 

[tinkerbellandpeterpan]

Jury duty is the bane of my existence in Philadelphia. DH and I get called every. single. year. Not kidding every year since we moved here. I just got my notice this week. I'm going to be at a beach concert that week. But I'm going to ride it out and pray I don't have to show up so it counts. If not then I guess I'll have to reschedule. Philly has a notoriously low turn out rate but DH and I are the idiots that show up even though I get thrown off every single year for the same 2 reasons.

 

[mjkacmom]

Jury duty is the bane of my existence in Philadelphia. DH and I get called every. single. year. Not kidding every year since we moved here. I just got my notice this week. I'm going to be at a beach concert that week. But I'm going to ride it out and pray I don't have to show up so it counts. If not then I guess I'll have to reschedule. Philly has a notoriously low turn out rate but DH and I are the idiots that show up even though I get thrown off every single year for the same 2 reasons.

My 23 year old has NJ jury duty next month, MA jury duty in august (that she rescheduled from last year). She has an unpaid clinical next month so she’ll ask their opinion, she’s a full time student when in Boston. My husband is a frequent flyer but usually gets dismissed.

 

[mumto3girls]

I just got called for the first time in more than 25 years. Last time was when we lived in a different county. I am supposed to call the night before. It’s on Thursday. I don’t have anything scheduled Friday, but not sure if I should keep the following week clear or not.

I think I would try to reschedule if I were you.

 

[monsterkitty]

Jury duty is the bane of my existence in Philadelphia. DH and I get called every. single. year. Not kidding every year since we moved here. I just got my notice this week. I'm going to be at a beach concert that week. But I'm going to ride it out and pray I don't have to show up so it counts. If not then I guess I'll have to reschedule. Philly has a notoriously low turn out rate but DH and I are the idiots that show up even though I get thrown off every single year for the same 2 reasons.

Last year was the first year I had not been called since 2001. Of course, they stop sending jury summons to me after I retire and can serve with no problem

Before, it was a pain because I would have to do sub plans and then call after 5 pm to see if I was needed for jury duty. 90% of the time I would have to report, but then they would release us at some point. I managed to always be in the group that didn't get released until around 3 pm.

Here you actually have to serve on a jury in order to not be called for 1 year.

 

[Meriweather]

Here you actually have to serve on a jury in order to not be called for 1 year.

DH was called earlier this year. He had to go in. His group was called in for jury selection and then they were all released (the person made a plea deal). They all got credit. Here it is 18 months before having the possibility to be called back.

 

[Skippy918]

My 23 year old has NJ jury duty next month, MA jury duty in august (that she rescheduled from last year). She has an unpaid clinical next month so she’ll ask their opinion, she’s a full time student when in Boston. My husband is a frequent flyer but usually gets dismissed.

So she’s gotten called in 2 states? Which one is her permanent residence? She should be able to be excused from the state where she is not a permanent resident of. What state issued her driver license or voter registration?

 

[tvguy]

So she’s gotten called in 2 states? Which one is her permanent residence? She should be able to be excused from the state where she is not a permanent resident of. What state issued her driver license or voter registration?

Yeah, the sure seems odd. I would think they would only call her in the state where she has her Driver's License or is registered to vote, unless she somehow has a license in one state, and votes in another.

 

[mjkacmom]

So she’s gotten called in 2 states? Which one is her permanent residence? She should be able to be excused from the state where she is not a permanent resident of. What state issued her driver license or voter registration?

NJ is her residence, MA doesn’t care and routinely sends notices to college students, not being a state resident does not excuse jury duty.

 

[mjkacmom]

Yeah, the sure seems odd. I would think they would only call her in the state where she has her Driver's License or is registered to vote, unless she somehow has a license in one state, and votes in another.

Nope, not MA. She lives in an off campus apartment but uses our address for most mail, votes here, has a NJ drivers license. I’ve had kids in 3 out of state universities, so far just MA has been an issue.

 

[tvguy]

Nope, not MA. She lives in an off campus apartment but uses our address for most mail, votes here, has a NJ drivers license. I’ve had kids in 3 out of state universities, so far just MA has been an issue.

So she lives there more than 6 months of the year?


https://www.mass.gov/info-details/trial-jurors-handbook

 

[barkley]

reschedule. my oldest just dealt with jury duty this past week-EVERYONE called had to show first day at 7:45 a.m. to do a 2 hour informational meeting after which they have to call every night of the 2 weeks they are called for. a person could get to the thursday or friday of the second week of service before they were considered for a trial.

 

[sam_gordon]

So she lives there more than 6 months of the year?


https://www.mass.gov/info-details/trial-jurors-handbook

Most college kids are at least going September - December, then January - April. That's seven months right there. And before you bring up Thanksgiving & Christmas break, etc, classes could start the middle of August and go through the middle of May. I think it's easy to get 6 months.

 

[MillauFr]

I would just reschedule to a time when you have several weeks clear. Even on a simple case, just jury selection can take a few days.

This is the correct answer.

 

[tvguy]

Most college kids are at least going September - December, then January - April. That's seven months right there. And before you bring up Thanksgiving & Christmas break, etc, classes could start the middle of August and go through the middle of May. I think it's easy to get 6 months.

My auto insurance company allowed you to pick which zip code I insured my kids cars in, home or college. My kids came home a lot on weekends, so it worked out to 180 days away at college, so just five days under half a year.