stormy weather Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 I'm trying decide what to do. Today I got a summons in the mail for jury duty, for U.S. District Court. It's not in the same town where I live. It's sixtyish miles away. They want me to be available for the entire month of December. I would have to drive over the mountains and it looks like we might actually be getting snow this winter. There are several fatalities every winter on this route. I'm a single parent, work full time and my kid relies on me for transportation. I can write in to explain if my hardship doesn't fit the usual one I had to choose from and see if the will excuse or postpone my duty. I wouldn't mind doing it if it was spring, summer or early fall, but in the winter it will be the pits. WWYD? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cintinative Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Bump for you. I would be trying to get out of it, especially since you are a single parent. It sounds like you would have to spend the night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bambam Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 In our state, if our hardship doesn't fit the defined listing, we still show up for jury duty and are offered the opportunity to go before the judge and explain our unique circumstances. The judge can make a ruling at that time to allow you to leave. I'm not sure what the procedure is for other states. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 My DS got a summons this summer for District Court for the month of October. They wanted a response on some aspect of it within 10 days but he was out of the country for the entire window so I ended up calling and since I did I asked about a bunch of other questions I had(because DS was in college and last semester had a class where if you missed one lab you lost 20% of your grade and if you missed 2 you failed the class and I was concerned if he had another class like that were they going to make him serve jury duty and potentially fail a class). Anyways, they have a person whose sole job is to coordinate their jurors. She was super helpful in answering my questions and letting me know what was or wasn't possible, accommodations we could request etc. So my first suggestion would be to call that person and talk to them. It seems perfectly reasonable to request being deferred to another month but that person will tell you whether or not they are willing to make that accommodation. I will tell you that it turned out a bit more involved than I expected. I thought he would be only called once during the month. How it really worked. He got called the first day, case 1, he wasn't selected to be in the box (of potential jurors) but had to remain in the courtroom in case too many of them were dismissed. Case 2 he had to be in the box and interviewed about his ideas/thoughts/beliefs/feelings etc on certain issues. He wasn't selected and so could return home (this whole process took over 6 hours). If he had been selected he would have had to return the next day and hear the case (and return how ever many days the case lasted). However, since he wasn't selected he is still in the pool for the month of October and can be called back again to sit for jury selection. His "one time" only applies if he is actually selected and sits to hear a case. They do allow you to block out dates that you absolutely can't serve but I have no idea how many dates you can select. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Petrichor Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 She said she can write in to plead her case. I'd write the single parent, sole caretaker and educator of a young child (depending on the child's age - I wouldn't say this part in the case of a teen). I'd leave out the weather aspect - that would be true for anyone and just looks like you're trying to get out of it. Not actually sure if adding the educator part would help your case though. If your child is a teen, I'd say "Sole caretaker and responsible for child's transportation to [important place that he goes regularly during the day, i.e. classes]. But TBH for a teen, I'd be seeing if there was someone else you could (maybe even pay) to take him where he needs to go. I wouldn't be expecting to get an exemption for a teen who could, stay alone for the day, or potentially even over night. Actually, you could potentially mention weather if you write that you live on the other side of the mountains and that the drive + weather could potentially cause you to be away from your child for too long and that you don't have a caretaker for that. If your road isn't the kind of mountain road that sometimes closes due to weather conditions, I wouldn't mention it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catz Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 (edited) I just went through this! Federal district court jury duty. I had slightly different reasons but I sent in 10 pages of documentation that showed timing was very poor. I contract teach and tutor. I homeschool. One kid is applying to colleges this fall as a homeschooler. Neither kid has a license. I asked for a deferral. Both my kids are teens for the record. It worked! I think nothing ventured nothing gained. Worth a try! Edited October 12, 2018 by FuzzyCatz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in SJ Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 Here if you don't fit one of the check boxes there is a place to write in your explanation, but I have never heard of one of these getting approved. If they don't approve you will get a phone call/ letter telling you when to show up and then you can explain and see what the judge says. The last time I was called I had to go in, wait to be called to a courtroom and then I had to explain to the judge that I was homeschooling teens. Oddly enough as soon as I said "homeschool" they couldn't get me out of there fast enough. Amber in SJ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 If you are homeschooling, some states will exempt you. Mine does if you provide a copy of your approved county paperwork. I also got out years ago for having a nursing baby and just needed my pediatrician to fill out a form. My son served on a jury for a week and missed all of his college classes, and then was called up again the following week. He wrote a letter asking to be exempted because he had already served and didn't want to miss more classes. They approved it. Otherwise, write a letter, but in my county they wouldn't approve the exemption you've asked for. The reality is that you probably won't serve more than a week if at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freesia Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 I've gotten exemptions several times--nursing baby, pre-schooler, home educator. Once they asked when I could serve. I chose summer dates. It's worth asking, but it helps to know when you can serve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted October 12, 2018 Share Posted October 12, 2018 I wonder if they would pay for you to stay in a hotel there, since it is over the mountains in Winter. And, if so, who would take care of your DC. Federal Court is a big deal. I think asking for a postponement, until Spring might be a better path. I was never on a jury, but I did need to testify before a (County) Grand Jury in Texas once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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