Okay, peeps. And especially Lisa.
So I got this jury summons about a month or so ago and promptly forgot about it. Everything is just so insane right now, it completely slipped my mind. Actually, it didn’t even register with me. It wasn’t even in my mind long enough to slip out of it.
So … I ran across it yesterday and went ACK! There was a form I was supposed to send back within 5 days of receiving the summons. So clearly, I didn’t. Because of the non-registration in my brain, you see. This is for federal court. Grand Jury or somesuch. Turns out, my jury service is supposed to last for a WHOLE MONTH! You call in every day for a damn month and have to go down and sit in the courthouse for 5 whole days out of that time to see if you’re picked. And if you’re picked for a jury near the end of your service — guess what? — your service is extended!
Oh, and by the way, my jury service starts NEXT WEEK.
Boheme — my new business that I need to be present at, every day — opens NEXT WEEK.
Oh, and the topper: Job-related issues are no excuse. They will not accept them.
Totally different from Superior Court where you’re at least allowed some excuses.
Now, I have not responded, as I said. And the summons, with its 6-page instructions, clearly states that failure to appear will result in:
— A fine of $100 or
— Imprisonment for not more than 3 days (oh, that’s comforting — long enough to become someone’s bee-yotch, I’m sure!!) OR
— BOTH!
So …..
In addition to my overall anxious sleeplessness about Boheme, I’m now totally freaked out about this. I can call, I suppose, and ask for a postponement, but I actually already did that in when I was summoned for this very same jury duty for the entire month of December and was going to be out of town for the holidays. I had no idea back then where my life would be just 2 1/2 months later.
What do I DO? Do I just ignore it and take my chances? I’ve done jury duty before, so I’m not a shirker, but I literally cannot do it now or any time soon. A postponement for a few months down the line won’t do me any good. Doing it now or doing it then would be bad for business, bad for my family, bad for our finances that are still in fragile recovery.
Ack. ACK!!
Advice, please. NOW!
Thank you.
Your potential jailbird friend,
Me
You know – I moved apartments once and it took some time for my “mail forwarding” form to be processed – and I missed a jury duty summons, just like you did – some form I was supposed to fill in, and send back. I completely ignored it. (I was 25. I had no fear.) But nothing bad happened and I never went to jail.
Maybe you could be out of the country. Or in intensive care.
Whoa–I’ve got no clue. I tentatively agree with Sheila. You certainly don’t want to call attention to yourself by asking questions. I’ve never had jury duty. Is that weird? What kind of citizen am I? Maybe I’m lost to the system. There’s a reassuring thought.
Hmmmm. I’m thinking things regularly get lost in the mail and are they REALLY going to send the police out with a warrant for failure to appear at … jury duty?
I wouldn’t call them just yet.
I’d leave it be.
(I’m not a lawyer. I don’t even pretend to play one on TV).
🙂
Well, I can’t speak for federal jury duty, but it’s no biggie here. We have a jury commissioner who keeps track of who returns their questionnaire, but to my knowledge there’s no recourse to the people who just don’t mail them back.
I’d ignore it, but don’t use my name! 🙂
You guys are all saying what I want to hear!! Yippee!
Ignore it. They can’t prove I got it, right? I mean, it wasn’t certified mail or anything.
I mean, it’s bizarre. You aren’t allowed any job-related excuse? No “hardship” excuse or “I run my own business” excuse like with Superior Court? So, you lose your business, go bankrupt because of jury duty and it’s just no biggie to them? “Too bad for you, sucka”? I feel coerced with this, like there’s no recourse other than to wait it out and see what happens.
But I’m scared to death of possibly having to appear before a judge and explain why I didn’t show up for jury duty and hearing him say, “Three days in the slammer, babe.” AHHHHHHH!!!
On the other hand, maybe it would make a good blog post.
i was just about to say, going to jail would make great blogfodder. you beat me to it.
of course, if you don’t survive the 3 days in jail… hey, can i guestblog and write the post for you?
oh no! i hit “submit” before i could put that little dumb winky emoticon guy in so everyone would know i’m kidding, and i’m not just some heartless witch. well i am that, but i would be sad if you kicked it in the slammer. don’t do that. especially now, as it would weigh heavily on my conscience. like i caused it or something.
Yeah, sometimes they do come pick you up. Some jurisdictions take jury duty very, very seriously, and federal courts are notorious for not having a sense of humor. I would definitely call them.
And the reason they usually don’t accept job excuses is because almost everyone will have one. But a lot of times they’ll be willing to reschedule your jury service for a time that’s more convenient for you. Of course, since you already postponed it once, who knows, but maybe if you can really show them that you are in fact opening your business next week? Some courts are more lenient for businesses where you are the only employee.
I think it also depends on how many folks show up…if there are a lot of no-shows, they send out (at least in my area) the sherriff’s deputies.
I was on jury duty once. Here, our term is three months. (No fake. Three months. Three months of calling every evening to see if you are needed the next day. It is like being under house arrest…you have to be by a phone between 4 and 5 pm every weekday.)
I am a college professor and I got a postponement until the summer…but then, they needed me to teach a summer class. So I did jury duty but had to cancel class a couple times because I had to go in (Never got on a jury, though.)
I dunno….if it were me I’d probably be all freaked and calling them and begging them not to arrest me and explain that it slipped my mind and stuff. (And in my experience, being genuinely apologetic and freaked-out about your mess up usually saves your tail). But then, my luck is such that if I ignored the thing, the deputies probably WOULD show up at my front door….
Tracey, I have no advice no offer but I hope it works out.
(It does help when your cousin is married to one of the judges in your county, though–“Hi, Bill!” “JUROR IS EXCUSED!!!”)
I dunno…I was friends with the woman who was the Assitant DA at the time of my jury duty and my walking into the courtrooom and waving at her seemed to cut no ice….
If you do still have to appear, clean your shotgun — assuming you have one — the entire time you’re being interviewed. It might be a good way to get out of it.
Like you’ve already said, they have no proof you got it since it didn’t come by certified mail (btw, this goes for speeding tickets or red light tickets you get in the mail, I’ve ignored at least three with no problems). You’ll notice that the penalties all say they “may” happen, not “will”. They count on enough people replying that they often don’t worry about everyone else.
As a side note, I’ve often got out of jury duty by saying I was self employed (which you are) and that it would be financial hardship for me to serve. You don’t really have a “job reason”, since you are the boss. Its different.
But go with the ignore tactic first. 🙂
I was in the grand jury pool last year, but never got called. I also live in a pretty small county — only so much crime, I guess.
I had a couple of excuses that would have gotten me tossed off any semblance of a jury, but never had to use them.
I’ve always heard that if called, you should tell them you would make a good juror because you can tell just by looking at someone if they are guilty or not. That should get you sent home… 😉
My father always threatened to use this response to the question, “Do you have any prejudices that you know about?”:
“Yes, I’m prejudiced against criminals.”
He’s never been called that I know of (and now he’s over 70 so I think that excuses him), so he never used it.
(Of course, the fact that his daughter in law works as a state police lab tech, analyzing evidence, in the state where he lives would probably excuse him too)
Don’t you just love Big Brother?