Homeschooling and Jury Duty

[TheBugs]

I am just curious about what you do if you are called for jury duty while homeschooling. I've never served on a jury because I am not a citizen in the USA, but I hope to be soon, so this might come up. Has anyone here ever had a conflict between homeschooling and performing this civic duty?

[Dinsfamily]

You'll have to check your local laws. Here, I was excused because I'm the primary caregiver of children under 10.

[milovany]

I was called up for jury duty about eight years ago. They did not excuse for homeschooling reasons. I was chosen to sit on the jury and participated in a 3-day civil trial. I found it very worthwhile and enlightening. I will say that I'm glad I was not chosen for the several week murder trial that was being seated at the same time (from the same pool of people) as my jury.

[NanceXToo]

I like jury duty lol. I would try to arrange childcare and go for it! We'd eventually catch up on school. Of course, if I couldn't get suitable child care for the kids, I'd have to try to back out based on that. I was on a jury once in my early 20's in NY. I thought it was a pretty cool experience. Haven't been called since.

[airforcefamily]

I've been called up twice and went once while in college but wasn't chosen then was excused the other the because I'm a caregiver. I know it varies between states. There have been cases where women without child care are held in contempt of court or moms of newborns are forced to be away from their babies. There should be some kind of minimum in all states for new moms, it awful for them to do that. I know that excuse of taking care of kids only applies to stay at home moms. Even if you're the primary caregiver to children under whatever age the state says if you work at all you're expected to find child care.

 

Given the opportunity I would enjoy the experience (not to mention the adult conversation and getting to eat lunch without kids asking for bites) but our younger kids are too little to leave. Even if I could leave them and find care it would be prohibitively expensive. I think that's a problem for homeschooling parents. It's hard to find care for school age children on school days and for a big family it could end up costing several times what your jury stipend would be.

[sbgrace]

I had to report but then I was excused before selection began because I had young kids at home and no child care. I was told it was up to the discretion of the bailiff here.

 

I really think this is going to vary by area and perhaps even from one court to the next in some places.

[MinivanMom]

I just received my jury excusal letter this week. I was supposed to report for jury duty on Oct.1, but I just sent a note saying I was the primary caregiver for 5 children age 8 and younger including a nursing 4 month old. I didn't even mention the homeschooling. It wasn't a problem, but our county is known for being generous with excusals.

[AimeeM]

I can't wait to serve... one day.

I'm not sure what I would do if I were chosen to serve on a long trial right now though. Our state HOMESCHOOL law dictates our children receive a certain number days of instruction and also dictates that nobody but the parent/guardian may homeschool the child(ren).

[Firestar Academy]

I had never been called to serve until I was in my first year of homeschooling. it never occurred to me to get excused. I have pretty reliable childcare - my mom. we decided that if I got picked, she would bring the kids to see the trial.

 

I got picked to go up into the box but got 'rejected' by one of the lawyers after hours.

 

Robin in nj

[busymotherof4]

I just got a summons a few weeks ago and had a major freak out. This was about 2 weeks after I gave birth. I was trying to figure out how to get a medical excuse since I wouldn't be 6 weeks post partum and my baby is only breastfed but friends let me know that breastfeeding is basically the only good excuse in the state of CA. I sent my form back but haven't heard anything. Either I have been excused or I have a warrent out for my arrest. I expect my next summons in a year.