Jury Duty Summons

[canyonwalker]

This week I got a jury duty summons. I've rarely gotten those. The last was 10 years ago, and the only other one ever was a long time before that. When other people talk about being summoned every few years I feel like the county doesn't like me or something!

When I was younger, getting out of jury duty was a sport. The popular zeitgeist was that it was a waste of time, and anybody with a real job or a family to support practically had a responsibility to get out of it. Comedians told jokes like, "Do you want to trust your fate to a jury of 12 people too dumb to get out of jury duty?"

I'm glad that zeitgeist has changed, because jury duty is important— especially for intelligent and otherwise well employed people. The justice system depends on having reasonably intelligent jurors who can understand the facts of the case, weigh the credibility of the witnesses by more than their physical attractiveness, and apply reasoning within the standards of the law. I look forward to bringing my intellect and perspective to whatever jury I serve.

There is one conflict for me, though. The week in May I was summoned for jury duty creates a cluster of activity where I'd be out of office for 4 out of 5 consecutive weeks. That's a big work disruption. Thus I filed for a brief postponement. My new week of jury service comes in June.

Comments

[khedron]

Jury duty! I'm hesitant to say anything, but my last jury duty was in Chicago in the late 90s. They haven't asked since and I have very mixed feelings on that.

[canyonwalker]

All the sources I can find state that jury summons are sent at random, so some amount of variability is normal. E.g., your neighbor gets summoned 4 times in 10 years while you don't get summoned at all.

The prospective juror pool is drawn from voter registration and driving licenses. I've had a license since 16 and have been registered to vote since 18. I got a summons, actually two at the same time (one federal court, one state court), soon after turning 18. I needed an exemption from both as I was attending university full time 300+ miles away. Then nothing, across 3 different states I lived in & registered in, until I was over 40. I guess I'm on the left side of the probability distribution curve.

[some_other_dave]

I've gotten one that I can remember, back in the late 90s or early 2000s. I didn't realize I could postpone it, and it fell during a week that I was out of state on vacation. So I wound up calling in on my cell phone daily to hear that I was not selected.

Nothing since then. If I do get selected again, I'll need to postpone so I can arrange a trip back to the mainland to serve.

[canyonwalker]

My notice arrived with a 5 week lead time. If it were yours, that might be enough for booking a trip. The postponement options were limited. Basically I could push it out a maximum of 8 weeks.