Jury Duty

[Gette88]

UGH, yesterday when I opened my mail, there it was - Jury Duty. I hate jury duty. I live in Camden County N.J. so anyone from the S. Jersey/ Philly area will most likely agree with me that Camden is one of the last places you want to go to. It's just not a nice city. I'm actually afraid to go there alone. I don't think jury duty would be so bad if it was in a nicer area. Anyway, they scheduled me for the week I'll be on vacation. I'm sending them a copy of my reservation so I'm sure they will excuse me, but the notice say's if you get excused they will reschedule you for sometime in the next 3 months. I'll have a stomache ache waiting for this to be over with. Am I the only one who dreads jury duty?

 

[snoopy]

I've served on Jury Duty 3 times. All 3 times were very difficult to get through as they involved violent crimes. Other than that, I found it interesting.

However, I got lost in Camden, NJ one time and I sure don't want to go back!

Perhaps they will reschedule you somewhere else?

 

[Pam]

The first of May I received notice to serve on the Federal Court jury about 60 miles away for a 2 week minimum. And it was in Pittsburgh - which I had to ride downtown in a car, and don't know if I could handle the stress of acutally driving, especially during rush hour!

That is my very, very busy deadline week at work, my husband and I are self-employed and no one else can do my job. I wrote a letter asking to be excused and sent in copies of deadline schedules, broke down by day what all I would be required to do for work, and also said in the letter that in the evenings it was my DD's dance recital and DS's Eagle Scout Court of Honor.

Finally, last Saturday I received a letter saying that my request had been granted and I was excused. They did not say anything about being called to serve again.

I suggest writing that letter and getting it in the mailbox first thing tomorrow morning. Make copies of all of your confirmations, etc.

Good luck.

 

[JoNo]

When I moved out of my parent's house in louisiana (at 18) to move to Florida with my then GF now Fiance, turns out I had recieved 5 jury duty papers and HAD A WARRANT for my arrest for not showing up! When I last visited there for my grandfathers funeral in January, I had to go to the courthouse and show them proof that I had moved out of state to get the warrant stopped!

 

[Grog]

We're lucky here in that we can reschedule for when we want, as long as it is within eight weeks and on the same day of the week as your original summons (plus you can reset your date twice, basically putting it off for four months). I was called for jury duty that would have clashed with my last trip as well. I reset it online...then off to Disney

 

[Denine]

DH starts jury duty tomorrow in US District Court. He has to call tonight to see if his jury group is supposed to show up. If if he doesn't go, then he could be "on call" for the next 30 days. How are you supposed to schedule anything? We both hope he has to go.
He served in Common Pleas court about 15 years ago, and I did it 2 years ago. It was a pain for me to get downtown, but at least DH works down there.

 

[fklhou]

I enjoy being called for jury duty and hope to get to serve on a jury one day. Most lawyers do not want other lawyers on the jury. My firm took a case to trial last summer and we ended leaving a patent lawyer on the jury. We came out out okay.

I was one jury for a while. It was a DWI case and during voire dire, I told the parties that my father had been killed by a dwi. The defense counsel had a really good probable cause challenge to the arrest (the defendant was basically pulled over for driving while black). After two days of trial, the judge decided that there was no probable cause for the arrest (yes, it is not a crime in Texas to be a non-white) and sent us home.

 

[cinmell]

Originally posted by Gette88
Am I the only one who dreads jury duty?

NO! You are not alone, I don't like jury duty either. My husband on the other hand, enjoys it.

 

[cgcw]

So far, I've been able to get out of it because I have young children who do not go to daycare. The courts look at it as hardship if I were to have to go and my DH would need to take time off of work.

I wouldn't mind going -- if it could be at the courts in the suburbs. The couple of times I've been called for it, it's always at the court building in the roughest area around. And, I wouldn't be comfortable going there.

I hope I didn't just jinx myself.

 

[Tinkbell]

I was sent my first jury duty papers on Friday. They also scheduled me for a time I will be on vacation. I'm going to reschedule it for 90 days later (as much as allowed). I don't mind going, but I have too many plans this summer that are set in stone.

 

[SoonerKate]

I've been called for jury duty twice, and served once. (One time was during finals week so they let me off.)

I actually enjoyed serving -- I was only there for two days, it was an excused absence from my classes and it was pretty interesting to see.

 

[Megan's Mom]

I have always wanted to be called and have never been called and neither has my DH. WE are both registered voters and have a drivers license so I don't know why we don't get called. My mother was called for GRand Jury once and that lasted 6 months you have to be on call for special calls. They happened to have the cases of our county commissioners that were indicted. She didn't enjoy that too much though.

 

[bsnyder]

I've been called twice, and both times got picked to serve on juries. One was a DUI case, the other was a civil lawsuit involving the "lemon law".

The first time I served, I was 8 months pregnant with my first child, so I qualified for an automatic excuse. But, I actually found the whole process interesting, and didn't try to get out of it.

 

[disykat]

I got called once when I was pregnant and they dismissed me. It was summer and I wasn't working so I wouldn't have minded it - I guess pregnant women take too many potty breaks!

I got called after my child was born and was dismissed as a SAHM due to childcare.

DH has gotten called several times but never got beyond calling in to be told not to come. He has a summons to do district court coming up - watch him finally have to go in since that one's 50 miles away! UGH! No one covers when he's gone at work so I see even more overtime in his future.

I wish they'd call me instead - I could go now!

 

[Denine]

DH called the number last night and now he doesn't show up until July 7. Again, he has to call the night before to see if he has to show up. He was really hoping to go in today and get it over with.

 

[katerkat]

I was called once -- I was in WDW for the summer and the jury was in NJ. Dad got me excused.
I would never be picked to serve on a jury any more, and I'm kind of disappointed. It would be fun to do it, but I guess I see enough of the courts through the newspaper.

 

[Poohbear123]

I don;t enjoy it either, and had to go in March of this year.....I didn't get picked and was told to leave at 11:00am... we saw a Movie and was in a room that had a Bathroom, a snack shop, and plenty of chairs. I HATED every second of it!

 

[Disney Ella]

Before I had kids, I always wanted to get called but never did. Once those kids were born, I was called every year. I was called for Camden County a few months ago. The employees there were very nice and they had two rooms with TVs and magazines. Both TVs were tuned to the same station that carried game shows and soap operas. There was a hot dog cart out front but I couldn't find any other place for lunch. I walked about a block in all directions, but was afraid to go any farther looking for a place to eat. I ended up getting a bag of Doritos from the drugstore. They usually give you an hour for lunch, but this day we got 1 1/2 hours. I was considering going home, but I was afraid it would be just my luck that I would get stuck in traffic. If you don't make it back from lunch, I think they said you had to spend a whole week coming to the jury room.

I got called for a medical malpractice case, but fortunately the judge dismissed me when I explained I had no one to care for my kids after school. I was worried, though, because no one else was getting excused. Not even the police officer who was scheduled to teach a course at Ft. Dix the next day.

They do try to make it a painless experience for you, although it's not exactly my idea of fun. Once the kids are older, I would like to serve, but they probably won't call me then!

 

[mom2of2]

I for one could never serve on jury duty. Not that I don't want to. Knowing myself the prosecutor would state his/her case and I would be all "GUILTY"! and then the defense would state their's and I would be all "NOT GUILTY"!