Jury Duty

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Feb 21, 2016

I have since retired and received 2 different summons because voter registration and DMV name were spelled differently. I got completely confused and ended up missing both summons. I have now received a letter informing me it is a "punishable." I am ignoring it. I am retired and I feel like I have done my damn civic duty. I may revisit this later.

One day, our county put out arrest warrants for people who ignored their jury summons. They arrested these people. Now, they may have eventually gotten the charges dropped, but who wants to go through that?

Seems like there should be a better way to lawfully get out of jury duty rather than just ignoring the summons.

SmilingBluEyes · Feb 21, 2016

Nurse activist: DO NOT ignore a jury summons. This may lead to "contempt" charges, arrest, and large fines. This is serious business. Usually this is spelled out in your summons. You might want to read that carefully.

And, Just because you are retired, it does not necessarily mean you have served your civic duty. MANY retired folks serve on juries. Others of us have served years in the military ( I consider that a rather serious civic duty) and years more at work and are summoned still. I have been summoned 3 times in one year myself and have 10 years military service and work full time, but that is not an exemption for me. You are no less needed than we are. I saw quite a few retired-age folks at the courthouse answering their jury summons.

Anyhow, to ignore the summons will get you in trouble. You would not be doing yourself any favors to do that.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Feb 21, 2016

I would say don't worry overmuch about it yet. Chances are good that you won't ever have to serve on a jury and if you are chosen chances are very slim that it will take up much of your time. I have received two summons over the years and both times the trial was cancelled so I never had to go in. There was a number on the summons to call the night before the trial was scheduled to see if I had to be there and a recorded message would either tell you to appear as ordered or that the trial had been cancelled. The summons also listed the approximate time the trial I might be chosen for was expected to last, both times it was one or two days.

poppycat, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2016

I'm in exactly the same position right now. I received a summons on Thursday that I have to appear on a Monday @ 8:30 a.m. at a courthouse almost 2 hours from my home. I sent a certified letter Friday requesting a change of courthouse & change to a Tuesday or Wednesday. I work private duty through an agency & they don't pay for jury duty. I also work Sunday & Monday night shifts so I can't even get to the courthouse by 8:30 a.m. & if f I go on a Monday, it means I will miss 2 nights work. I don't get paid when I don't work so there's no way I can do jury duty on a Monday.

allnurses Guide · Feb 22, 2016

Juries are usually summoned on Mondays, asking for a different day of the week is not generally feasible. Part of being a citizen is jury duty, and missing work is just part of living. The certified letter isn't likely to produce the results you want; you'd do better to contact the court clerk directly.

The judge may or may not let you off. I have been summoned more times than I can count, some I was let off from (breast feeding a very new newborn), but more often not. Been selected for murder trials twice. A lot of people tried to tell the various judges why they shouldn't serve, but very few actually got off. There were plenty of "there is no one else that can do my job", "I take care of my parents", "I am self employed". Especially if the judge thought the trials would be fairly brief!

poppycat, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2016

I'd be more than happy to "contact the court clerk directly". Do you have a number where a human actually answers the phone? Because there is no such number in my county.

angelicGrace · Feb 22, 2016

I have been called three times. I sat as in the grand jury for 4 days (2 a week for 2 weeks) and was dismissed because I wasn't needed for the two others.

It is your civic duty as a voter and shouldn't be looked at as an inconvenience but as an extension of your freedom.

Also note that most counties and states pay jurists for their time.

poppycat, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2016

If you consider $17.50/day being paid, then I guess we get paid for jury duty. However, I served on a jury about 4 years ago & by the time I paid for parking at the train station, train fare both ways, & my lunch, I lost more than what was paid. My employer does not pay if I don't work & I'm the primary support for my house. If I have to take time off work, without pay AND lose money because the county pays so little to jurors, we may be looking at losing our car or house.

I have no problem doing my civic duty but if it means me becoming homeless.

poppycat, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2016

To the person who said juries are summoned on Mondays: not always true. When I was summoned several years ago, it was for a Wednesday.

angelicGrace · Feb 22, 2016

If you consider $17.50/day being paid, then I guess we get paid for jury duty. However, I served on a jury about 4 years ago & by the time I paid for parking at the train station, train fare both ways, & my lunch, I lost more than what was paid. My employer does not pay if I don't work & I'm the primary support for my house. If I have to take time off work, without pay AND lose money because the county pays so little to jurors, we may be looking at losing our car or house.
I have no problem doing my civic duty but if it means me becoming homeless.

It's your grand jury's job to request and vote on a raise for jurists. The grand I sat in raised jurist pay to $75 a day for our county. Yours can do the same. FYI, they are also responsible for inspection of jail and court facilities in most states/counties, and decide the fate of a case going to trial or not.

If your likely to become homeless because of a few days of service to your nation perhaps you should reconsider your budget and set aside a larger portion of your income to savings. You financial wellbeing is not a responsibility of the court but of better planning, spending and savings on your behalf.

poppycat, ADN, BSN · Feb 22, 2016

It's your grand jury's job to request and vote on a raise for jurists. The grand I sat in raised jurist pay to $75 a day for our county. Yours can do the same. FYI, they are also responsible for inspection of jail and court facilities in most states/counties, and decide the fate of a case going to trial or not.
If your likely to become homeless because of a few days of service to your nation perhaps you should reconsider your budget and set aside a larger portion of your income to savings. You financial wellbeing is not a responsibility of the court but of better planning, spending and savings on your behalf.

I don't need your advice on how to budget. I just missed an entire month of work, unpaid, for medical reasons. There went our savings.

As far as grand juries voting for pay raises for jurors, I have no control over that as I've never been asked to be on a grand jury.

Jensmom7, BSN, RN · Feb 22, 2016

Two points: once you turn 70, you can opt out of it, which is what my husband did.

Also, a jury summons is sent regular ol' snail mail. No return receipt, no signature. If push came to shove, there's no way to prove you did or didn't receive it.

I've done my civic duty over the years, and either never made it out of the jury pool (ate lots of M&Ms that day, though lol), or, most times, the summons itself listed me as an alternate; I called the night before and was told my services weren't needed, but thanks anyway. I stopped getting summonses over 10 years ago when I told the person on the other end I'd just recently been deposed. It was actually the truth!!

Lawyers generally aren't too fond of having nurses on a jury. Especially personal injury and malpractice cases.