Another Jury Duty thread

[mrodgers]

I have never felt put out by Jury Duty. Even after spending 6 1/2 weeks on a Civil Trial. My wife and I are retired now, and she just got a summons and she is looking forward to it.......IF she gets called. We have standby Jury Duty here, and you often don't get called in. Plus you get paid, and is a windfall when you are retired!

The bolded is quite an important distinction when discussing whether Jury Duty is a pleasurable experience or not I think. The $8 I make on Jury Duty isn't quite enough for me to pay my bills as I am not retired and still working for that.

 

[mrodgers]

Where I live, being called for jury duty is a pain. Technically, I live in Fulton County which is part of Atlanta. But, where I live it's considered northern Fulton County. When called for jury duty, it's in Atlanta and a real pain. When I last did it, had to get up 5 a.m. to catch the train. Have to leave early due to traffic and finding a place to park. Courthouse said to be there by 7 a.m. and I arrive in front of building at 6:45 a.m.

Not understanding your post. You had to leave the house at 5 to get the train or get up at 5? I have to be somewhere at 7 every day and getting up at 5 for that is a pretty normal thing no matter where I would have to be at 7.

 

[mrodgers]

Meh - sat on a jury once. This whole 'jury of your peers' concept isn't what it's cracked up to be. Many of my 'peers' suck.

With the political divide today, it is impossible to get a "jury of your peers" today.

Edit: Didn't see the original dates on this thread...

 

[kanerf]

Used to get them a lot and then after I kept saying can't serve because I work out of state, they finally stopped sending them.

 

[DisneyHardin]

My DH just called called for Jury Duty for a high profile murder trial - they called 1500 people to wheedle it down to 14. He didn't get chosen for the jury.

 

[mumto3girls]

My DD22 just got a summons last week for Halloween. I texted her a pic of the form she needs to fill out (option to do it online) and a phone number to call if she has a pressing need to be excused. She’s a senior in college and is a bit over 2 hours away so hopefully she can get out of it or postpone it until Christmas or summer.

 

[_19disnA]

Over the years I have been called twice for jury duty. As someone else mentioned, with one you had to call a daily phone # and they gave a range of numbers who had to show up (the original letter had a unique code # I assume for each person). That time my # was never called. The other time we were just asked to show up and sat in a large room with many other people. Most played with their phone or read a book to pass the time. Someone associated with the courthouse finally appeared to tell us how important our task was. He gave a long rambly speech that sounded like we were in a civics class in high school. I seem to recall they also read off numbers of people who then moved to some other room based on the number of cases that day. The rest of us just sat around until we were told we could go home as they didn't need anyone else that day. While I get the intention of picking people at random, it seemed like the entire process was terribly inefficient and wasted a lot of time for those never chosen.

Think we were paid a couple of dollars each day for our trouble, but as I recall it was only a nominal amount that almost seemed like they shouldn't have bothered with it.

 

[Moliphino]

My DD22 just got a summons last week for Halloween. I texted her a pic of the form she needs to fill out (option to do it online) and a phone number to call if she has a pressing need to be excused. She’s a senior in college and is a bit over 2 hours away so hopefully she can get out of it or postpone it until Christmas or summer.

I know in my state you can reschedule to anytime within a year of the summons, not sure if it works that way everywhere.

 

[tvguy]

The bolded is quite an important distinction when discussing whether Jury Duty is a pleasurable experience or not I think. The $8 I make on Jury Duty isn't quite enough for me to pay my bills as I am not retired and still working for that.

Am I guessing correctly that your job doesn't offer paid time off for Jury Duty?

 

[JLTraveling]

Not understanding your post. You had to leave the house at 5 to get the train or get up at 5? I have to be somewhere at 7 every day and getting up at 5 for that is a pretty normal thing no matter where I would have to be at 7.

If you're a morning person or used to that schedule, great! But many of us are not. If the previous poster works evenings or afternoons, getting up at 5am results in a tremendous loss of sleep. I did it every day through high school because I had no choice, and I spent those years horribly sleep deprived. Now that I work for myself, I don't get up before 7:30am unless it's an extreme emergency, and then I suffer all day long. A friend who also works for herself is a bona fide night owl. She typically goes to bed around 3-4am, so having to be up at 5 would result in an entire night's sleep loss. Yes, it's a pain for a lot of people.

 

[KayMichigan]

I got summoned for jury duty in August. It was a one day service, if they hadn't called my group number to come in that would have satisfied my requirement. But I had to go in, so I did, but it was only for a few hours. It was civil court so they assured us it was only going to involve money and we wouldn't be deciding anybody's fates. This was in a major metropolitan city.

There were about 45 of us there that morning. They kept thanking us for coming in so I got the impression that they have trouble getting people to show up, even though you can get fined or jailed if you fail to appear. We were paid $45 a day ($55 if you get chosen for a jury and have to come back), plus a free box lunch if you stay past noon. But they didn't pay for parking so most of my pay went to the parking garage!

We were chosen for the screening process for one jury and went upstairs to the courtroom. It was an insurance case. They called some people, dismissed a few, seated the jury and sent the rest of us back downstairs, where they told us they didn't need us any more. Then we got our letters stating that we served and satisfied our obligation and sent us on our way!

We also each got a nice blue tote bag with the court seal on it, they contained a pen, a zippered pouch containing a lot of PPE (five pairs of gloves, five masks, a bunch of alcohol wipes) and printed information on the jury process.

 

[disneychrista]

Am I guessing correctly that your job doesn't offer paid time off for Jury Duty?

I'd venture to guess MOST employers don't give paid time off (specifically) for Jury Duty. One would have to use other paid time off (if they have that).

 

[tvguy]

I'd venture to guess MOST employers don't give paid time off (specifically) for Jury Duty. One would have to use other paid time off (if they have that).

Yes, appears only 8 states require employers to off paid time off for jury service. No idea what percentage of employers offer paid jury duty time.
All of the 8 corporations I worked for offered paid time off for jury duty. One did limit it to two weeks.

 

[kdonnel]

Somehow it is that time again.

Just 231 days between report dates I am off to jury duty.

 

[sam_gordon]

Somehow it is that time again.

Just 231 days between report dates I am off to jury duty.

Lived at the same house for 21 years now. Have been registered to vote for the entire time. Haven't been called yet.

 

[kdonnel]

Lived at the same house for 21 years now. Have been registered to vote for the entire time. Haven't been called yet.

When I got the confirmation text that I had to report today it reminded me that this is actually three times in less than three years.

Week of 9/20/21. Didn’t actually have to report as courts were still closed due to Covid.

Week of 9/26/22. Had to report Monday and was dismissed and home before lunch.

Week of 5/15/23. Had to report today. Waiting in the jury assembly room that seats about 700 people. The room is full. I wonder if they have to call this many people every week?

 

[disneychrista]

When I got the confirmation text that I had to report today it reminded me that this is actually three times in less than three years.

Week of 9/20/21. Didn’t actually have to report as courts were still closed due to Covid.

Week of 9/26/22. Had to report Monday and was dismissed and home before lunch.

Week of 5/15/23. Had to report today. Waiting in the jury assembly room that seats about 700 people. The room is full. I wonder if they have to call this many people every week?

Depends on the type of trial, number of trials, etc usually. At my court we called 1000 people for a trial and only about 70 showed up. Yes SEVENTY.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Where I live in NJ, once you serve they have to wait three years before summoning you again.

It's a moot point for me. My psychiatrist gives me a note and that gets me excused. My anxiety ramps up too much. The first time I was called after I moved here I went. I wound up sitting in the jury pool room having anxiety attacks until they called my number to go to a court room, where I then sat and cried for fear of being chosen. I felt so dumb, but the judge was kind and excused me to go back to the jury pool room, where they sent me home. That was something like 10 years ago. They still summon me every year like clockwork. I mail the note back with the questionnaire.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I've been called a few times but never been empaneled (or whatever they call it.) Last time I was interviewed it became obvious the attorneys wouldn't choose me -- married to a former public defender, plus a family member with a history of incarceration.

Now that I'm over 70, if I get called again I have the option to be excused due to my senior status.

 

[shh]

ugh...I get that jury duty is a service citizens should be glad to fulfill, but for freelancers like me, it's a big financial hit. I only earn money when I work - zero sick, vacation or personal days. So I'm losing a full day's pay every day I have to be there - not to mention future projects since I can't commit to X days on the job in advance as I might be stuck on a trial. Plus it's a 2 hour minimum round trip in brutal, stressful traffic. Our state pays like $8-10/day - barely covers gas money.

So unfair that they have summoned me multiple times the past few years when others I know - whose employers PAY for jury duty - have never been called. Those who must earn a living as a 1099 worker should be left alone for at least a few years after reporting for jury duty.