I Have Been Summoned

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

A few weeks ago I got a notice that I had been randomly selected for possible jury duty. I had to fill out a form to determine my eligibility. The bar is pretty low. This is for US District court, not our local county court. Not really sure what the difference is as far as the type of cases goes. I didn't relish the idea of having to drive a couple of hours away to serve jury duty.

So, Saturday I got my official summons. It's for petit court, so it's not a grand jury where you would be deciding whether a case had enough evidence to go to trial. The good news is, there is a US District Courthouse locally, about 10 miles from my home. Still, not looking forward to it.

I had to fill out more general info online such as how long I had lived here, whether I had any cases against me, etc. Some of the questions I had already answered the 1st time. Then there were supplemental questions dealing with Covid and whether I wanted to ask for an exemption due to health.

It sounds like instead of all potential jurors showing up on the first day of hearings, I am to call a number on the Friday before to get my instructions and, if I am not called to show up immediately on the first day, I would be on call for the entire week, but from home.

Kinda funny because on the way to the gym this morning the local news on my radio was talking about how the local courts were also beginning to ramp up with a similar process.

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

If they call me to bad not doing this during a Pandemic.

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

I have no excuse. I go to the grocery store and church and even the gym. We go out to eat. I have a singing practice with the other members of our worship service team once a week. If I can do all those things, there's nothing keeping me from serving on a jury.

kaydee50 · ‎02-07-2011

I'm hoping that if I'm ever called again I can use my age as an excuse.

Sooner · ‎03-10-2010

@Nightowlz wrote:
If they call me to bad not doing this during a Pandemic.

@Nightowlz You do know you can be sent to jail for not complying? I hear jail isn't so great in a pandemic either.

SilleeMee · ‎05-22-2016

The courts here have been closed until about two weeks ago. They have resumed jury duty selection but everything inside the big room where everyone goes is different. All the chairs are SD apart and they don't have the same number of people being called in anymore. All things have been scaled down to limit the spread.

SeaMaiden · ‎03-10-2010

I did jury duty a couple of years ago... a week it took as I was chosen to be on a jury. I found it to be a huge waste of my time. I will never do it again... and I would never consider to do it during this pandemic until it is totally over. If I ever get a card in the mail I will throw it away.

Icegoddess · ‎03-19-2010

@Sooner , I don't know @Nightowlz particular situation, but I'm sure she could get excused using one of the Covid questions. They ask if you have an underlying condition or are over 65 and if you are asking to be excused due to that. You can ask for an excuse if you have someone in your household at with fever, unexplained cough, or repiratory problems. Maybe I could use the fact that I have a cat with asthma as an excuse. I consider him family and even bought a Foodi Grill even though I have a perfectly functioning Jenn Aire grill becaue the Foodi would emit less smoke. There's even a generic question Do you have ANY concerns related to Covid-19 that would affect your ability to serve. You do have to explain though.

Personally, I'm not using this panemic as an excuse to withdraw from life and it's responsibilities. If someone is truly afraid and are stahing inside their home out of fear, then I consider that a perfectly acceptable excuse. However, if they are going out and doing other things, then I think it's a cop-out to use Covid as an excuse not to serve. I don't like jury duty, but I'm not going to use a lame excuse to get out of it. Somebody needs to do the job.

MalteseMomma · ‎03-09-2010

Get your dr to write you an excuse.

I have served twice and it was a really fun experience.

Especially when we all went to a great restaurant for lunch.

But when I got called (third time) to the Grand Jury,I resisted because it ment a 2 hr drive back and forth everyday on the NJ turnpike in peak hours.

Not for me. I have anxiety problems!