Recently my wife received a summons for jury duty but was not called on the day and didn’t even have to go to the court. It was not only inconvenient but also stressful as we weren’t certain how we would manage the day if they called her in due to our kids.
On a separate note my respect for the government and sense of civic duty has become eroded over the past decade or so for various reasons.
I was contemplating what would happen if you completely ignored any jury duty summons issued by mail. Just straight into the bin each time you receive one. Now for myself the stress caused by this action and the “what ifs” would be more difficult to manage over the years than the actual duty itself but…
Important to add to my scenario is that if ever hauled into court the response to any judge would be serious and penitent, something along the lines of “I receive so much junk mail we just started throwing it out for the past 5 years” That is a completely plausible defense I would say.
My guess is if you can handle the stress then absolutely nothing would ever happen to you. Actually now that I have typed that out could the state maybe eventually put a warrant out for you and then if you get pulled over for speeding could something happen that way? I can’t imagine but maybe so. Picturing the officer cuffing a guy in his 50’s with zero record after doing 52 in a 45 because I see there is a warrant out for your jury duty? In the same world where flash mobs burglarize stores with zero recourse?
Thoughts or actual experience from jury duty scofflaws out there?
Differs by state and even county. It is criminal contempt but is a misdemeanor in CA and probably elsewhere. But that is $1k or more and up to a year in jail. A warrant could be issued
And no, that is not a plausible defense, sorry. Think about what would happen if everyone could just say “oh it must have gone out with the junk mail†and get away with it. In addition the the fact it’s a lie
In FL you would be accused of “indirect contempt of court” (I will ignore the $100 fine)
The judge could issue an order to show cause to you probably by mail which you would also ignore
(this is public record and I would like to know how many of these are issued a year… probably zero)
Then an arrest warrant could be issued for you. So now you do get pulled over and there is a warrant would the police actually arrest you? Because if they do you are now in jail unless you post bail now you do have problems.
I wonder if police have discretion to arrest on warrants on indirect contempt of court?
And no, that is not a plausible defense, sorry. Think about what would happen if everyone could just say “oh it must have gone out with the junk mail†and get away with it. In addition the the fact it’s a lie
I don’t know about that. I have only recently began receiving mail after a 15 year hiatus. Despite owning a home and having vehicles registered I could have binned every piece of mail without examining it and it would have affected me zero. But alas we are now going down another rabbit hole of the future of paper mail and its legal ramifications.
Only time I was called for jury duty I just told them the reason it would be a burden (basically, missing work) for me to participate and they excused me.
Here in CA we have a large amount of mail theft (neighborhood boxes have been broken into many times). I figured that would work for an excuse/ reason
(now we have a PO Box due to how often it was happening).
Here in CA we have a large amount of mail theft (neighborhood boxes have been broken into many times). I figured that would work for an excuse/ reason
(now we have a PO Box due to how often it was happening).
Interesting that a hypothetical discussion of civic duty to enforce lawful society has to think about said duty and the ramifications of criminal activity. (people stealing your mail)
I think that’s part of what has me contemplating this.
I have done this. I have served on several juries. But, when the summons are for dates when I was busy, I simply ignored them. U.S. Mail is inconsistent and unreliable. It is not considered perfected delivery so no judge can assert that the summons was served. IMO, not a fucking thing they can do about all the times I ignored their summons.
Now that I am retired I would serve on them again.
When I was younger I believe I had a very strong sense of civic duty, patriotism, etc etc. Jury duty would have been right up my alley and I did serve for one day in SC and was placed onto a jury for a trial. When we entered the courtroom for the first bit of action the attorneys came out and said the parties had settled. We then went home. Over the past decade I have become distrustful and at times disgusted with government and almost all of its associated arms. It absolutely is a necessary evil but I want less and less to do with it. I was a registered Republican until I was in my early thirties. Then was registered as a Democrat but recently switched to Independent as I approach 50.
But you are not serving the government. You are serving the person sitting in the chair, who could somehow be you someday. Think of it as protecting them from that dysfunction you loathe.
But you are not serving the government. You are serving the person sitting in the chair, who could somehow be you someday. Think of it as protecting them from that dysfunction you loathe.
I missed my service when my brother passed away. Was not thinking clearly. When I realized I had missed I called them back and they expressed their condolences to me and asked when a better time for me would be. We agreed on a week in the future and when the time came I planned to be available but was never called.
I used to think of how “inconvenient†it was but realized it is a civic duty and I see a moral imperative. We elect to live in a country and its systems and reap all the benefits but we don’t want to participate in our obligation. That seems hypocritical and wrong to me.
They are flexible if you ask nicely and it’s possible to set it up for a time when your family can make arrangements. Even then there’s no guarantee you get called. But IF you do then you had a chance to make arrangements ahead of time.
I’m self employed in the service industry and losing out on work means no income whatsoever. Missing a few days to a week is not a massive inconvenience to us. Missing weeks? Yes that would be. And would be unnecessary burden and they probably wouldn’t make me serve.
It’s also not a fireable offense. You couldn’t make arrangements at your work to watch your kids for a few days? You don’t get vacation or PTO?
Mine was federal. They gave me dates, one day for 3 months in a row where I was suppose to be available. Months 1 and 2 they didn’t need me, by month 3 I knew my schedule for the fall semester and the day would have required me to miss teaching class. I contacted them, they said no problem and excused me.
Mine was federal. They gave me dates, one day for 3 months in a row where I was suppose to be available. Months 1 and 2 they didn’t need me, by month 3 I knew my schedule for the fall semester and the day would have required me to miss teaching class. I contacted them, they said no problem and excused me.
Yea most of the time they are going to be flexible. Also you made yourself available for the first two which probably helped them excuse you for the third.
This is probably a situation where I come off like a sanctimonious prick but I really do think people should make themselves available when they are summoned. Yet I fully admit I probably have other moral compass shortcomings.
But as I’ve gotten older I am constantly surprised how much more honey gets me what I want/need vs vinegar. Don’t ask; don’t get!
Interesting that a hypothetical discussion of how to criminally avoid civic duty to enforce lawful society has to think about said duty and the ramifications of criminal activity. (people stealing your mail)
FIFY!
I agree with Yeeper, WannaB. It’s important. I always found my CA (non-Federal) duty to be super flexible. When you get the summons you can just check a box that you can’t show up that day, and that lets you delay prettty much indefinitely. If you show up, the typical experience is sitting there for like an hour and not getting called in, and then you’re good for years. If you get called in, you can just tell the judge why you don’t want to be there, and in my experience they’re pretty reasonable. If the judge doesn’t buy your reason and you make it to voir dire, the lawyers generally don’t want a juror who doesn’t want to be there, so they’ll excuse you.
Edit: Probably civil contempt, not really a crime, I was being dramatic.