Brilliant Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have to report for jury duty tomorrow. Are courtroom proceedings always open to the public? My 13yo is hanging out with a friend tomorrow, and the other mom thought it would be interesting to bring them to the courthouse for the morning to watch the proceedings. Of course, I didn't think about calling the courthouse to find out if this is permissable until after 5PM... Anybody know if they are likely to be admitted or turned away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirtroad Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 We have a field trip to jury selection & jury trial in November. It may vary by state... but here we can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I think it depends on the proceedings, but that, generally, yes, courtrooms are open to the public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomOfOneFunOne Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 In many courtrooms in Oklahoma it's 18 and over unless it's juvi. I don't know if that's law or just SOP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elizabeth Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I see observers all the time. What a great way to educate your dc watch the judicial branch in action!!I hope it is an interesting case so the questioning of the potential jurors is not dull. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Only those from the jury pool were allowed to be in the court room during selection. The actual court case was open to the public--but minors had to be accompanied by a responsible adult. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 If you are simply going for jury duty, it won't be anything exciting yet. You will be signing in, and then waiting while they call different groups to be possibly selected for different trials. And then there is filling out more forms applicable to the actual trial that they are possibly selecting you for. And then depending on the type of trial, the lawyers will be asking you questions etc. All of this is time consuming, much of it boring and I'm pretty sure, not open to the public. If you are selected for an actual trial then you will find out if it is public or not and if it is something like a civil case about something fairly mundane or if it is something much more graphic (and presumably exciting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tex-mex Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Only those from the jury pool were allowed to be in the court room during selection. The actual court case was open to the public--but minors had to be accompanied by a responsible adult. In CA and TX this is the case... your kids will not be allowed in the jury pool room. I am not sure I like the idea of them being unsupervised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMA Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Please do not bring your kids to jury duty or even to the courthouse. Depending on the state and judge, in the best case, you could be denied entry and have to reschedule, or, in the worse case, you could be held in contempt for bringing the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary in VA Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I was a clerk/baliff for a trial judge right after law school. All of the proceedings he did were open to the public. In fact there were regular "court watchers," probably retirees who came to the court house daily to watch any interesting cases. If they want to watch what you are doing they might be disappointed. You may be sitting in a jury room all day, or they may not be able to watch the jury selection as others have said. Also, if they are alone, judges might not be happy with them in the courtroom, but with an adult it appears more like a "field trip." Since I don't know where you are, you might have left for court already :001_smile: Hope it goes well! ETA: Saw your name, California? HTH, Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brilliant Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Thanks for the responses. Just to be clear, I was not going to bring the boys (teenagers). The other mom was going to bring them and stay with them. As it turns out, the sub-courthouse where I reported had a big sign on the door saying that nothing was open to the public. And then it turned out I was released after sitting for 3 hours. So no civics lesson for any of us this week! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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