Exactly a year ago I received jd summons for three day/one trial, called all three days, was not needed and assumed I fulfilled my duty for a few years at least but just got another summons. I haven’t looked it up yet but wondering - what is the guideline for this? This is a federal jd, not sure if it matters.
Also curious if the selection process is truly random, I have quite a few co-workers who haven’t been called in many years but my name seems to be coming up again and again.
Emily.
DH never gets called. I do, with annoying frequency.
I believe you can be summoned for different courts (county, federal) same year. There may be a question on the jury questionnaire asking if you have served on a jury in the last year, maybe that would qualify you for dismissal.
I’ve always felt like voting in primaries bumps you up in the “random” selection. They usually won’t say how they choose, just that it is a sampling of the qualified jurors in the area.
Unfortunately, not sure if having been called (but not served) for County or State may not exempt you from a federal jury. You may have to call and ask.
I get called like clockwork every three years (always the same time of year too!). I was getting more frequent summonses and I think it was because I must have been on one list (maybe DMV) with my middle initial and on another (voter perhaps?) without. Eventually it seemed like they figured out I was one person. But I know others who never get called.
In our jurisdiction, serving on a federal panel will excuse you from a state panel (for a year I think - not totally sure), but serving on a state panel will not excuse you from federal. That’s what my panel was told when I went to federal jury duty this past summer.
In the 14 years I have lived in my county, I have been called for my state district at least 5 times. Been called for federal jury duty once (mentioned above). I also know people who have never been called. Strangely, my older son and I got called within a month or two of each other for federal jury duty.
ETA: I would call the jury administrator and ask the question. Our federal jury admin office was very nice and professional. The state court jury admin system is a little harder to reach, at least where I live.
I never got called a single time until I turned 40. I thought JD was some kind of urban myth. Then I got called roughly every other year for a while. It definitely seems quite random but with a very strange distribution.
One of my kids was called (County) during college freshman year out of state. Our jurisdiction allows an out of state student to be excused for a year. After kid was excused, DH received a summons, then I received one. Sigh. Next year, same scenario. Kid was called, excused and this time just one of us parents was called - in place of him??? This scenario with some variation played out for 6 years! Some years kid was not called, but DH or I was called. Finally, kid was done with school, called and served. I am anxiously waiting to see if the rest of our household has been taken out of the “hot bucket”.
I was called once even though not a registered voter. We had moved and I hadn’t yet registered a the new address. The summons, to the correct new address, must have come from DMV rolls.
In NYS I have been called twice for state, served once and was dismissed the second time and told I would not be called again for 6 years. The following year I was called for federal and dismissed the same day. Serving on federal/state at least in NY do not have anything to do with one another. You can also be called for both federal/state grand jury duty which is entirely different from regular jury duty as well. One of my friends was called for petit jury duty which is for civil cases only and only has a jury of 6 plus alternates.
It varies. Service in state court can get you out of federal jury duty in the Northern District of California. Each court has its own rules.
In my state, both state and federal use DMV records for selecting names. I’m in my 50s. I had never been summoned before last year, when I was summoned for state court in October. I was picked for the array for a particular trial but then was not picked for the jury, based on my responses to certain questions. I reported at about 8 a.m. and was excused by 1:30 p.m. For state, I think I’ve fulfilled my commitment for three years. To my great surprise, I was summoned for federal court in April. I was surprised just at the coincidence; I knew the state and the federal courts don’t share records of jurors.
With the OPs case, if you get a Jury duty notice, but don’t have to actually go in (ie they have enough perpective jurors), in NJ at least it does not count has having served jury duty. If you actually have to go in, and either get pulled onto a jury, or spend 1 day and don’t get put onto a jury, you are considered having served and I believe you won’t be called for another 3 years. From what I know, that may not apply to federal jury duty, I believe that is independent.
From what I know they use both DMV data and voter registration, but that is not all they use. My son got called for jury duty in Boston his freshman year,yet he is neither registered to vote or has a driver’s license, so they must be compiling it from other sources, too.
I haven’t had a jury notice in several years, l got a notice one year, I called in and they didn’t need me, I got another notice 3 months later, and that time didn’t have to go in either, haven’t heard since.
I have been called a few times without being asked to serve over the course of several years. Then I got called in and served on a criminal trial that lasted 5 days. After that I was empaneled on a grand jury (2 days a week for 6 weeks).
No one loves jury duty. On the other hand - and I apologize for getting all serious and sappy - we have young men amd womem serving multiple tours of duty in the middle east. If my sole uncomfortable duty as a citizen is to participate in the justice system, I’m proud to do it.
@hayden: Hear, hear! The chief justice of our state supreme court has reported for jury duty. I’m happy to do the same.
They just changed our county rule- you can get called once a calendar year (used to be 2)- so you could get December then January. D1 got constantly called in college (got out of it). D2 has never been called. H and I are frequently called.
I’ve been called twice. Once was NYS, they didn’t want me. It was a construction case and I’m an architect. The second time it was a federal case. I had to go into NYC and fill out a long questionnaire. By the time I got to the end of it, it was pretty clear it was for the Martha Stewart trial. It surely would have been interesting, but I’m glad I wasn’t picked!
I’ve been a registered voter for 25 years and never gotten called once. My dad used to not vote for religious reasons, but then he finally decided it was OK. He was in his mid-60s. Within just a few months of registering, he was called!
In the olden days, courts called many fewer jurors to make up the pool for the day or week. Why? Because most people called actually qualified (and showed up). They were citizens, they still lived in the city/county/state. Now to get a jury of 6 or 12 people, or a few alternates, it may take not the 30 names it used to take, but 60 or 100. For a capital case, it may take 500 jurors just to get 20; the first 250 are immediately excused because they aren’t willing to impose the death penalty. For the Aurora Theater shooting, I think 2000 (maybe it was 5000) jurors were originally called. Most of the could not be gone from home or work for months, many knew the victims, the cops, the doctors who would testify. It was a county trial, and it’s a big county, but if just filling out the questionnaire counted as having served jury duty, the county would have been hard up for other trials that year.
Federal jury duty usually pays better!
Son was called for jury duty within a few weeks of turning 18 and registering to vote. He was still in HS. He had a higher group number so didn’t have to report, but had to check back each day for a week. We wondered if that would be an excused absence? He was called again 2 years later but was attending college out of state and was allowed to defer.
Did you think jurors just volunteered or something? How did you think juries were impaneled?
Appreciate everyone’s responses. Glad to hear it’s not just me who gets called way too often. I do actually have to go in on Monday so we’ll see how it goes but I’ll be sure to tell them about my concerns.