Questions about jury duty (Vanity)

11-3-02 | myself

[Undertow]

My Fellow Freepers:

I have a question that perhaps somebody could answer or shed a little light on. Is jury duty a constitutional requirement? If I choose not to go to jury duty does the court/state have the authority to fine or jail me?

This is not any kind of homework assignment or anything like that. I need to know this because of a personal situation I find myself in.

Thank you.

Undertow

[hsmomx3]

I can tell you that I have been called to jurty duty twice in the last two years. In both instances I had to decline as I do not have transportation during the day and I homeschool. Both times, they have granted my request for excuse.

[SamAdams76]

I'm not sure about the constitutional part of it but jury duty is one of your most important duties as a citizen. If you do not show up, you will be held in contempt and in many cases, a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest. I believe the penalty is usually a stiff fine though some states may sentence you to jail as well.

However, your jury duty can be excused due to hardship. The criteria for "hardship" varies from state to state. I would call the phone number that was printed on your summons ASAP.

[dread78645]

Is jury duty a constitutional requirement?

Not that I'm aware of.

If I choose not to go to jury duty does the court/state have the authority to fine or jail me?

In Texas, it's a court summons. If you ignore it, you can be fined (I'm not sure about jail).
It's easier to get excused. In my county, you can get excused by a phone call or e-mail to the clerk.

[Hildy]

Reminds me of the old joke: It's scary to think that when you're on trial, your life is in the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to know how to get out of jury duty!

[Undertow]

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I should have stated that I live in Pennsylvania.

[justlurking]

Each court have specific rules about what constitutes a valid reason to be excused from jury duty. If you have a conflict that cannot be resolved, you should call them and work it out.

If your personal situation is temporary, postponement is usually an option. However, repeated abuse of postponement can put you in a worse position. When I was traveling on business regularly, I requested to be summoned on the one day of the week when I knew I would usually be home.

The court does indeed have the authority to fine or jail you. If you defy them, you can expect to be the subject of an arrest warrant.

In summary: deal with it, don't ignore it. You will usually find that the court is willing to work with you.

[Undertow]

damn.

thanks for the info mr. lurking.

[jpl]

If you absolutely must get out of jury duty, just tell the judge you believe in jury nullification, and you'll be excused instantly. Seriously though, I highly recommend you serve, unless you absolutely cannot. If we had better juries, our legal system would work better, and we'd have fewer O.J. Simpsons loose on the streets.

[IronJack]

Jury duty is not constitutionally mandated. But participation may be required under statute. In most cases, you can be discharged from the requirement if you can establish that service imposes a hardship, but the requirements for that qualification vary considerably.

I've been summoned for a jury once, and it was one of the most enlightening, edifying experiences of my life. It makes me wish I'd gone to law school when I had the chance. I still might ...

[HairOfTheDog]

Why are you trying to get out of jury duty?

[babygene]

The only bases most state laws have to a constitutional requirements is that the state are allowed to pass and enforce laws. You are not going to get out of it on constitutional grounds.

[Dinsdale]

In CA at least unless you recieved you jury summons via registered mail (or had it served in some other legal way) you have not been properly served and can safely ignore it.

However if you call the court to argue or in any other way show them that you are looking at the summons you have been properly served and are on the hook.

The best way out once served is the line 'I refuse, for religous reasons, to sit in judgement of anyone'.

I know this to be true as a judge in S CA got so sick of scoff summons people that he issued all summons via registered mail. They wrote a story about it in the paper and gave away the secret. Bet it cost them lots of responses in the long run.

[Stone Mountain]

If you do not show up, you will be held in contempt and in many cases, a bench warrant will be issued for your arrest. I believe the penalty is usually a stiff fine though some states may sentence you to jail as well.

I don't think so. I'd be surprised if there was any state in the country that did this. Usually, no-shows are ignored - it's not worth it to a county to try to pursue people ignoring jury duty.

[HairOfTheDog]

I've been summoned for a jury once, and it was one of the most enlightening, edifying experiences of my life.

I am glad you said that. The only time I was summoned, they seated a jury before they got to me each day, and I was released by 10:00 am. I was really disappointed because I wanted the chance to serve and see a trial from the inside.

I cringe at people's knee jerk response to try to get out of it, particularly conservatives.

[VMI70]

I love jury duty. It gives me a chance to put the bad guys away.
Go serve.

[Bonaparte]

Another easy way is to say within earshot of the defense, "Well, if he wasn't guilty, then why the h#ll did they arrest the creep?" You'll be excused.

[Blue Screen of Death]

Tell the judge to screw off. Tell him that you hate lawyers and think they are all slime bags and being in the same room with a bunch of puke lawyers would make you sick. Then hope that the 12 people selected to hear your case have a better attitude than you do.

[georgiabelle]

I've been summoned 4 times in my life. The last time I told the clerk that I was the only bread winner now and couldn't stay. He was very nice and allowed me to leave.

Before that I was chosen each time I was questioned. Apparently I have a very honest face. By the last day even the judge and bailiff was laughing when they would tell me to take a seat in the box. One case was landlord against renter. I told them I had been a landlord but they still told me to take a seat in the box.

I enjoyed the experince. Everyone should serve on a jury to know how the system works.

[Undertow]

COOL! I'll try it!