high_jinx

just checkin... have you guys heard of anyone actually getting a fine or jail for ignoring the mailers?

__________________
-my phobia drowned while i was gettin down.

Willravel

I've never heard of anyone ignoring their jury duty. If you really, honestly can't do it, call in and tell them why. If it's a good excuse they'll generally let you skip it. If it's not a good excuse, stop being lazy and do your duty. Jury duty is a serious responsibility as a citizen.

snowy

And seriously, you probably won't even get called up.

My SO got a notice for jury duty a month ago. He was freaking out because it turned out that he had an exam on the day of jury duty (his summer class started after he'd sent in the paperwork, and he'd already been excused once for school in the spring), but conveniently, there was no need for a jury that day after all.

__________________
If I am not better, at least I am different. --Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The_Dunedan

I can't imagine trying to skip out on Jury duty.

As a Juror, yours may be the vote which sets an innocent man free.

Your vote to Nullify may be the vote which begins the process of striking down an unjust or unconstitutional law.

Yours may be the vote which sends a guilty man to his deserved punishment.

I simply cannot imagine trying to get out of a job which puts one directly in the position of protecting the innocent and punishing the guilty.

America's freedoms are preserved with the Four Boxes: the Soap Box (freedom of speech), the Ballot Box (free elections and secret ballot), the Jury Box (trial in open Court by a fully empowered Jury of one's Peers), and the Cartridge Box (the Right of armed self-defense) IN THAT ORDER. The Cartridge Box is the "box of last resort," and the whole point of America is that we have the other three Boxes to appeal to first. When you neglect Boxes #1-3, you make it that much more likely that Box #4 will need opening, and that's something -nobody- wants.

Xerxys

Just go and introduce yourself as an ardent member of the clan and you never have to worry about being called again.

Pearl Trade

By any chance did you listen to the Bill Burr podcast this week? He was talking about this...

If you get called in for jury duty, just do it. More likely than not you won't get picked. We have a jury selection process for a reason and you are part of that reason.

__________________

Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.
Give me convenience or give me death!

Meditrina

My boss ignored those juror questionnaires and she ended up receiving a summons to appear in court. She was fined for it. If she didn't pay the fine, she'd get jail time.

__________________
"Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." ~Alex Karras

levite

Why avoid jury duty? If you can't go, generally they will let you out of it. Otherwise, you still stand an excellent chance of not being picked for a trial. And if you are, your job will understand, and give you the time. It's your duty and privilege as the citizen of a free country.

__________________
Dull sublunary lovers love,
Whose soul is sense, cannot admit
Absence, because it doth remove
That thing which elemented it.

(From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)

Hektore

Do not ignore the mailers. DO NOT.

Assuming you're asking because you got a summons:

The last time I got called, the judge actually sat and told us all how to avoid getting picked during the selection process while the lawyers were sorting through the questionnaires. His advice:

1. Look like a slob.
2. Look genuinely disinterested in the proceedings (bonus points for nodding off)
3. Answer the questionnaire so that you look like you're the perfect juror. Goes straight in the circular file folder just like all the retail applications you answer the questions perfectly on.

Other than that - if you have a legitimate conflict they will generally dismiss you. I got 3 notices while away at college. Every time I called and said "I'm at college, 100 miles away." They replied "No problem, we'll take you off the list."



Or you could just do this one simple, exceedingly important thing for the benefit of society as a whole and not be one of those people who constantly try to worm their way out of their civic duties.

__________________
The advantage law is the best law in rugby, because it lets you ignore all the others for the good of the game.

Fremen

Just call and ask if they have arrangements in case of an emergency with your colostomy bag.

If they call your bluff, get a hole punch.

__________________
Google

monkeysugar

Just call them up. I always fill out the questionnaire and then call later but I never even have to show up for selection anyway. DON'T just ignore it...the county clerks tend to get really irritated when you do that, and tend to send out nasty-grams followed by court summons.

__________________
I've got the love of my life and a job that I enjoy most of the time. Life is good.

The_Jazz

Same here, only it wasn't my boss. She got threatened with contempt of court but paid a fine.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

high_jinx

let me be clear and quell the outrage. i have no qualms morally doing my civic duty and such. but i live check to check, have a part time job that doubtfully would cover my absence.... netting me an 80 dollar loss a day. a couple of those would hurt my food budget and a week or more would put me out on the street... no melodrama.

my question was more on the actual repercussions. i've seen one fine from chicago and one from ny. i guess here in ca it's probably the same.

i just wondered how they could prove you ignored them and didn't miss them in the mail or something and if they took that kind of thing into account etc. too.

__________________
-my phobia drowned while i was gettin down.

Xazy

They send you a final notice basically and if you do not reply then, you are considered missing from action. In NYC you have to miss 3 calls, and then you are considered to be ignoring them. You can still after that go in and admit and schedule a date but that date is fixed and you can not postpone.

The_Jazz

Usually you can take a hardship excuse without having to appear. There's generally an option for that. Read your notice a little more carefully and see what it says.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Xazy

Hardship in NYC they give you the ability to postpone for a year, if you want more you must show up with your taxes to get yourself removes completely.

ring

A few years ago I had a habit of checking my mail only twice a year.

I almost got in trouble for 'ignoring' the summons.

After they realized that only a crazy person has 'mailbox-dread-disorder,'

Uhh...things are back to normal?

I check my mail once a month now. Big improvement.

Giant Hamburger

Ring, I have that disorder too.

I say IGNORE THEM and tell us what happens.
Let them take their summons from your cold dead hands!
NEVER GIVE IN.

ring

A jury of my peers is a terrifying thought.
Hermitage has its perks.

Shagg

California will send registered mail at some point, get that one and you had better show up. Even with a part time job, ask your employer if they will cover any days. Doesn't hurt to ask.

Los Angeles has a call in system and you only have to show up if they say to on a given day. Chances are you wont have to show, if you do, take a note from your employer saying they will not pay for jury duty. After you show up, they ask if people can't stay for employment reasons and most people get excused that ask if they have a legitimate excuse.

If you do get called and it's a day off and you get called for a case, the judge then says how long the case is expected to last and then asks if anyone can't serve for that amount of time. He then gives you the chance to be excused.

The court system isn't going out of it's way to fuck potential jurors, however, if you don't do your homework and talk to your employer, get documentation of employer policy etc. They will force you.

Anormalguy

The jury summons that I received were sent by regular mail, i.e. the court has no proof that I received them. That said, I've never ignored a summons from the county, but I have ignored a summons from a neighboring city.

My record is 2-2-1 (twice picked & served, twice not picked, and once dismissed because they had enough jurors).

__________________
In a society where the individual is not free to pursue the truth...there is neither progress, stability nor security.--Edward R. Murrow

Terrell

I've been given the jury duty summons 3 times in my life, picked zero times (ages of 19, 38, & 39, currently 40). Don't know anyone who has been punished for not showing up, but from time to time they do talk about people being punished for failure to show up in the news.