Ok, it’s jury duty. Got a summons to serve for county jury duty (haven’t been called in over 40 years). So.. I was ok/intrigued until I saw the date. It’s the week of our Anniversary and we were considering doing something away from home for a few days. So obviously we now can’t plan. BUT… as I read the exemptions, I do qualify for an age exemption.
Having an anniversary is not likely to be a reasonable reason to ask to postpone/reschedule (and who knows if the date they would reschedule to could be an issue with upcoming travel plans). So IMO it seems like I either ask for the age exemption or take my chances to see if I am needed (it’s one of those systems where you call a phone number or check the website after 6 PM on the day before one is to report for jury duty.) It says the maximum commitment is 1 week.
I do feel a responsibility, but…….
Sigh. Decisions, decisions. <<< now off to read the state code it sites as where the exemptions are addressed>>>>
I’m a few months shy of the age exemption in NY. If it’s a bad week I’d get the exemption or postponement. I just came off jury duty (they didn’t pick me, I love being an architect!) I’d postponed once because I was getting an infusion, this week was fine, but I was worried about getting on some long lasting case and ruining summer plans. I’d actually like to be on a jury one of these days, but glad to miss out this one. It sounded like it was going to be a lot of he said, she said, with no actual evidence besides the sworn testimony of the landlord and the tenant. I took a real dislike to the landlord’s lawyer and really didn’t want to have to listen to him for one more second!
Well, unless the trial lasts more than a week. Usually “1 week or 1 trial” means they can pick you for a trial any day that week, and then you stay for the length of the trial. Here it is now ‘1 day or 1 trial’ so they tell you the day you have ‘jury duty’ and like yours you call in to see if you need to appear, and if no, your name goes back in the computer but if you do need to appear, even if not selected for a panel (or even questioned) you are good for a year.
I’d do it if you aren’t going away. If you ask for a postponement, sometimes they’ll ask when it is good for you ‘in the next ___ months’.
We have very very few exemptions. Not age, not profession, not ‘school age children’. Mothers of babies (I think under a year) do get an exemption but they have daycare for older kids. EEW, my child would NEVER go to daycare in the germy old city and county building.
I really want to be on a federal jury. Maybe a nice RICO case.
Decades ago I was called for federal jury duty. Most of those were drug cases in some shape or form. They did group voir dire, and they’d say something like “raise your hand if you have family members who work or worked for the government” and up would go my hand. They’d also say something like “raise your hand if your work in any capacity with people who are treated for substance abuse” and up would go my hand. In one case, I had previously worked with one of the attorneys on a case and he shouted out a personal hello to me! It was amusing. I was excused.
Why not just take the age exemption? In my county, we can get summoned every three years and usually I am. Actually, last time it was two years and luckily I had proof so I was able to skip that one.
I can’t WAIT to reach exemption age. The ones I’ve been almost on are always either murder or horrendous assaults. Which could go on for multiple weeks. I’d really rather not for a number of reasons.
@jym626 I was summoned for the first time by your “neighboring county”, for the Tuesday after Memorial Day. I adjusted my plans to return from a trip a day earlier than planned, expecting to call in after 7PM the night before to learn if my group was called. Surprisingly they emailed me over the holiday weekend to say my group was released. So I changed my plans back to return when I’d originally planned.
Maybe they settled? I believe it was an auto insurance case since I had to answer questions about any conflicts with a list of companies, all of which were national auto insurance providers.
I may just do that. Part of me is intrigued, and since we were planning to go away I didn’t have much on the calendar that week…
I have to provide some affadavit. I would think they could easily see my age in their records! My back probably would not be happy in their chairs all day.
I was excused the last time I was called for a pre-scheduled vacation. They didn’t ask for anything and apparently we’re allowed one “free” excuse. I was told they’d call me back in 3 months. It’s been more than 3 years. I was especially happy because it would have been a 2 hour drive to the very SW part of our county for that one. I’m praying that the next time I’m called it’s closer to home.
I’ve been called for jury duty three times. The first two I had to call in the night before but the cases were settled or thrown out so I didn’t have to report.
I was actually chosen to serve on a jury when my DD was 3 months old. The case was supposed to last “a few days”…and you know…it would likely have lasted a few days IF the lawyers and judge had done three full consecutive days. Instead, they would meet for an hour, and dismiss us. They would tell us to come back after lunch. They would skip days entirely because the lawyers or judge had something else to do. Trial took over three weeks. It was impossible for me to deal with my job for the full time because of the last minute nature of the scheduling.
In CT, you can also postpone without reason once. With a three month old and a 3 year old, and a full time job, there was never going to be a good time…so I went.
I never heard from the courts again until November when I got a questionnaire about my availability. It was not a summons. I was honest and told them I was going to be away from Dec 29 to Feb 2. My end of jury duty responsibility age date was March 2. So…hopefully I’m done.
DH was called once but called the night before and was excused.
Well, it turns out its super easy on line to request a permanent excusal based on age. So I filled it out with my name and juror ID. The confirmation of receipt of my submission has a different Juror # on it, but I hope that’s some internal coding. Also, I looked on line and it says they usually call jury pools 1-10, based on need. I am in Jury pool #11. But I just got an email and text that I would hear back within 2 business days. They didn’t even ask for my birthday on the form.
When I somehow found link on line to request the postponement/excusal, it says “Postponements are granted or denied at the discretion of the court and will be considered based on the trial demands during the week you are to serve and the number of previous postponements granted.”
And as mentioned earlier, we do have travel plans upcoming so I don’t want to risk jury duty interfering with that.
Oh.. and the “affidavit” they wanted on line was me simply saying I attest to the fact that I am an old geezer!! Hopefully they will get back to me in the next day or 2.
Seems unfriendly compared to places where summoned jurors get one free postponement, because they realize many have other plans and they do not want to deal with deciding what is a “good reason”.
Unfriendly? It does indicate that they allow for postponements (“based on the number of previous postponements granted”) , but it is understandable that they have to assess needs of cases on the dockets and the guidelines of the state code.
Both places I’ve lived as an adult allowed one postponement for any reason and you pick the date you’d like to switch for within 6 months of your original summons. I used to always pick something like the Friday before a long weekend or another day before a holiday to minimize the chances I’d have to actually go but the last few times I’ve done it those options weren’t available (guess I wasn’t the only one who figured that out). Most recently I changed from June to October just because I didn’t want to waste June days in a dark courthouse. In NYC I was called fairly regularly; where I live now I get called every three years pretty much like clockwork. We’re a one day, one trial jurisdiction though so usually I’m done by early afternoon since I never get picked for an actual jury.
Got a summons to serve for county jury duty (haven’t been called in over 40 years). So.. I was ok/intrigued until I saw the date. It’s the week of our Anniversary and we were considering doing something away from home for a few days. So obviously we now can’t plan. BUT… as I read the exemptions, I do qualify for an age exemption.
But I just got an email and text that I would hear back within 2 business days. They didn’t even ask for my birthday on the form. 