What to do with Jury Duty when you're on travel

[Dash man]

It took a whole day, no pay, no expenses. The good news is I am now exempt for at least another 2 years.

Maybe not. The last time I was selected for county jury duty, I had sat for a day and was excused. I came home to find a summons for jury duty from the Federal Court in Philadelphia. This one took two days before I was dismissed.

 

[COcheesehead]

Maybe not. The last time I was selected for county jury duty, I had sat for a day and was excused. I came home to find a summons for jury duty from the Federal Court in Philadelphia. This one took two days before I was dismissed.

Duh!

 

[audreyh1]

When I call in, because I’ve been overseas for 6 weeks or so and thus did not receive my jury summons, they make it sound so serious at first, like OMG you didn’t show!!!

Well duh - I’m not at home!

 

[Texas Proud]

I received a mailing saying I was selected for jury duty. The night before I was to show up, I had to call a number and we were given a yes or no on whether we needed to go the next day. I did.
The next day they brought a couple hundred or so into a room. Half were excused, the other half, me included, were picked for trials.

20 or so of us, I can't remember the exact number, were taken into a courtroom. 12 were randomly selected to sit in the box. The balance were alternates and seated in the gallery. Hours of questions took place and as the attorney excused potential jurors, another from the gallery got to sit in the box.
Well into the afternoon this process went and I was picked to replace a juror in the box. More questions until I finally answered a question in a way the one lawyer did not like. I was excused. Amen.

It took a whole day, no pay, no expenses. The good news is I am now exempt for at least another 2 years.

That is surprising.... here all people are being questioned at the same time... it is only after the questioning that they make their strikes and the people not picked can go home... so all at once....


The only exception to this was a capital murder case... had to fill out a questionaire and go home... came back the next day and they were then questioning a group of people... let some go and asked us back for a third day... then questioned us individually with no other potential jurors in the court room... lucky me... I was the LAST one questioned....

 

[ohyes]

I don't understand why I've never been selected to be on a jury. Once, I think I saw the plaintiff's and defendant's lawyers flipping a coin to see which one would excuse me. That might have been the time I was telling them of my ideas about changing the jury system. I thought they were impressed. I know that judge and bailiff seemed interested. Anyhow, they thanked me and told me to have a nice day (and not to skip taking my meds ever again).

Please never stop posting here. I cannot tell you how many times your posts have cracked me up.

 

[audreyh1]

I don't understand why I've never been selected to be on a jury. Once, I think I saw the plaintiff's and defendant's lawyers flipping a coin to see which one would excuse me. That might have been the time I was telling them of my ideas about changing the jury system. I thought they were impressed. I know that judge and bailiff seemed interested. Anyhow, they thanked me and told me to have a nice day (and not to skip taking my meds ever again).

Just summons to Federal court, DH had some strong opinions about even considering a possible 20 year sentence for possession of a small amount of weed. Lawyers called him back to challenge him privately in front of the judge. Stuck to his guns especially concerning the costs of trial, incarceration, etc.. Judge even said he made some good points. Needless to say he wasn’t selected.

 

[sengsational]

I received a mailing saying I was selected for jury duty. The night before I was to show up, I had to call a number and we were given a yes or no on whether we needed to go the next day. I did.

I Same here, but I didn't.


They had an automated phone process with deadlines. I called just a few minutes before the deadline on the night before, and got a "you do not need to come" message. I figured it's "first come, first inconvenienced". I recorded that call, just in case.

 

[braumeister]

Has anyone been on a grand jury? My understanding is that GJ service can sometimes last for months, although it's not every day.

I don't know anyone who has done this, but it sounds like it would be some serious public service.

 

[Livefree]

I just called and got my second postponement until December as we may be away. Also they allowed me to go to a closer courthouse. I told them I'm retired and we have one car and the wife needs for work

 

[Walt34]

Has anyone been on a grand jury? My understanding is that GJ service can sometimes last for months, although it's not every day.

I don't know anyone who has done this, but it sounds like it would be some serious public service.

My sister did once. IIRC it was one day a month but for either three or six months, so not a terrible burden. Her employer paid her regular pay on jury days so she wasn't financially impacted. She also said it was a very eye-opening experience and somewhat depressing learning about how badly some people treat others.

 

[hopefullyoneday]

Well Walt I'm guessing that was tongue-in-cheek but people just dumping jury duty is getting to be a big problem. More then a few places are getting pretty harda@@ about it. Really can't blame them either if you don't have enough people for a jury everyone's time is wasted.

Where I report to for jury duty they always have more than enough people. Last time it was just above 100 people for 1 case. In my opinion it is a very wasteful and un organized process. They need to make it a occupation or real job. Think about it would you want someone in charge of your fate who does not want to be there.

 

[hopefullyoneday]

When I was w@rking I loved being called to JD because a bad day at JD was better than a good day at w@rk. I also believe JD and voting are two of the most important civic duties.

Hopefully one day you wont be on the other side with a jury who does not want to be there judging your fate. I think jury duty should be a occupation of either part time or full time people who want to be there.

 

[Texas Proud]

Where I report to for jury duty they always have more than enough people. Last time it was just above 100 people for 1 case. In my opinion it is a very wasteful and un organized process. They need to make it a occupation or real job. Think about it would you want someone in charge of your fate who does not want to be there.

The number of potential jurors depends on the case... if a minor case I have seen as few as 25... other I have seen are 40 to 60... the capital murder case had many hundreds...


My sister was on one where the jury was only 6 people and the pool was 12... but it was a traffic case...

 

[Lancelot]

It can be problematic for Perpetual Travelers; I was selected for jury duty once. From memory, I responded to the Clerk of Courts website and told them I was on an extended trip abroad and would not return for 10 months. They accepted that and I never heard from them again.