Jury Duty - Excuse Rejected

L

lovingit

Member
A friend got summoned for jury duty.  She has to take care of her child (no one else available)  She put as an excuse that taking care of a child.  That was one of the options, financial burden, not being  able to speak English were other excuses.

But her excuse was rejected. Anyone else have experience?  Is caring for a child not a valid excuse?  Or does it have to be an elder or disabled person, etc?
 
You know why I do with a jury summons? That's right , I treat it like an hoa document, I throw it in the trash. The follow up threats also go in the trash.
 
qwerty said:
You know why I do with a jury summons? That's right , I treat it like an hoa document, I throw it in the trash. The follow up threats also go in the trash.
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Yup. Cant prove you got it.
 
i have not received jury duty notice in ages - never have served one either. isn't there an interview process you have to go through? can't you just fake with broken English or show bias against every race/ethnicity group except white males?
 
I would love to serve on a jury.  My work pays me in full for it, so if its an early dismissal in the middle of the day, I still get 8 hours, and I get to miss work.  I'm still waiting for my summons.  And of course I haven't gotten one in years.  My last one was a boring DUI, guy had two strikes already, so that's why it went to trial (duh, cop saw you stumble out of bar and drive away from parking lot). 

The whole judicial process is interesting, something I'm not exposed to normally and is a nice civic duty break from everyday work.  If you're sincere and tell the judge (don't waste your time explaining to a clerk or any other court person) you're time constraints/financial burden/childcare issues, they will listen.  When I went to my summons, a lot of people got dismissed with a legitimate excuse but you have to tell it to the judge.
 
lovingit said:
A friend got summoned for jury duty.  She has to take care of her child (no one else available)  She put as an excuse that taking care of a child.  That was one of the options, financial burden, not being  able to speak English were other excuses.

But her excuse was rejected. Anyone else have experience?  Is caring for a child not a valid excuse?  Or does it have to be an elder or disabled person, etc?
Click to expand...

It is a valid excuse but, iirc, I think you can only take a pass so many times but don't quote me on that last part. Maybe she's already kicked the can down the road?? I've returned my form in the past saying I couldn't because I was the primary caregiver for my children and it was fine. Did that a couple times, actually. However, it's important to remember that just because you are summoned does NOT mean you (the general "you") will be selected. That's a whole different thing. A lot of folks show up for the jury pool and are never called so they go home pretty soon. And if she is selected it could be for a brief case which may only last that day -- "one and done". If I was her, I would make arrangements just for the day of appearance and explain / see how it goes. For longer cases, they will ask the room who is available. Some people will volunteer because they actually want to do it. And again, even if you are selected it may not always go as planned. I was selected for a more lengthy trial but although less common (hopefully), I alone was released after the Plaintiff did something inappropriate. You just never know. There are a lot of factors. In all likelihood, she'll be fine regardless.
 
SoCal said:
lovingit said:
A friend got summoned for jury duty.  She has to take care of her child (no one else available)  She put as an excuse that taking care of a child.  That was one of the options, financial burden, not being  able to speak English were other excuses.

But her excuse was rejected. Anyone else have experience?  Is caring for a child not a valid excuse?  Or does it have to be an elder or disabled person, etc?
Click to expand...

It is a valid excuse but, iirc, I think you can only take a pass so many times but don't quote me on that last part. Maybe she's already kicked the can down the road?? I've returned my form in the past saying I couldn't because I was the primary caregiver for my children and it was fine. Did that a couple times, actually. However, it's important to remember that just because you are summoned does NOT mean you (the general "you") will be selected. That's a whole different thing. A lot of folks show up for the jury pool and are never called so they go home pretty soon. And if she is selected it could be for a brief case which may only last that day -- "one and done". If I was her, I would make arrangements just for the day of appearance and explain / see how it goes. For longer cases, they will ask the room who is available. Some people will volunteer because they actually want to do it. And again, even if you are selected it may not always go as planned. I was selected for a more lengthy trial but although less common (hopefully), I alone was released after the Plaintiff did something inappropriate. You just never know. There are a lot of factors. In all likelihood, she'll be fine regardless.
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She got the mail for jury summons. She went on ejuror and filled out her information and selected that she needed to care for child under "excuses". Submitted it and in a few days got an email saying it was denied because the information that she provided did not meet the court's guidelines for excusing jurors. 

Dependent care is suppose to be excusable.  Don't know why it was denied.
 
Come to think of it, I believe I actually did the breastfeeding excuse and got the 1 year extension twice, not for care-giving, "per se", but specifically because of nursing. (That was years ago and I haven't heard from them since!) Looking at the list of reasons, I don't even see care-giving on there as a reason for postponement. Breastfeeding is the most closely related reason.

How to Request a Postponement or Excuse from Jury Service:
https://www.saccourt.ca.gov/jury/excuse.aspx#post

How old is your friend's child? Would that apply?
 
SoCal said:
Come to think of it, I believe I actually did the breastfeeding excuse and got the 1 year extension twice, not for care-giving, "per se", but specifically because of nursing. (That was years ago and I haven't heard from them since!) Looking at the list of reasons, I don't even see care-giving on there as a reason for postponement. Breastfeeding is the most closely related reason.

How to Request a Postponement or Excuse from Jury Service:
https://www.saccourt.ca.gov/jury/excuse.aspx#post

How old is your friend's child? Would that apply?
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It will fall under hardship reason = The prospective juror has a personal obligation to provide care to another between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

I am not sure how old the child is.  Under 4 years. (should be #2 on the list below)

These are the excusable reasons
If any of the below apply, please click Excuse on the Juror Instructions page.

Physical or Mental Disability
Care to Another (non-professional)
Extreme Financial Burden
Completed Call-In or Reporting Jury Service within the past 12 months
Active Duty Military
 
Hmm. Did she give at least 5 business days notice? Can't imagine why, other than that. Maybe she could try calling them and speaking to a live human. 
 
SoCal said:
Hmm. Did she give at least 5 business days notice? Can't imagine why, other than that. Maybe she could try calling them and speaking to a live human.
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Yes she did.  The call in time is in Sept.  Can't imagine why either.

ejuror asks for only 3 questions under "care to another"
1) name of person being cared for
2) relationship of person being cared for
3) employed or unemployed

Maybe because she selected "employed" they think it is not excusable? Perhaps you have to be "unemployed" to be excusable?

This section is biased because they don't even know how much you make, even if you select employed.  It can be a financial burden to hire a nanny even if you are employed. So this excuse is only acceptable if you are employed?
 
ps9 said:
My last one was a boring DUI, guy had two strikes already, so that's why it went to trial (duh, cop saw you stumble out of bar and drive away from parking lot).
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That sounds like it could be a little bit interesting if they put on any sort of entertaining defense. Were you the foreman? I think other jurors would select you as the foreman because I think you would probably be a good one. My case was kind of interesting but the way it went down was the most interesting! It was a police officer who was suing the police department for wrongful termination. He sounded like somewhat of an idiot and kind of a slime ball during the trial... and it turned out he was. Outside of the courtroom, he decided to put me and the fate of his own case in jeopardy. I wasn't prepared for what happened next.  :eek:
 
lovingit said:
Maybe because she selected "employed" they think it is not excusable? Perhaps you have to be "unemployed" to be excusable?

This section is biased because they don't even know how much you make, even if you select employed.  It can be a financial burden to hire a nanny even if you are employed. So this excuse is only acceptable if you are employed?
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I think they assume if you are employed, you can serve on a jury on a day you would normally work and already have childcare.  You can choose to go to the court on a specific day instead of calling in for a week and not knowing when you would have to show up.  If you get called into a trial that's expected to last longer than that day, you can tell the judge you don't have childcare on the next trial day and the judge will likely let you go. Basically, if you are employed, dependent care is not a valid excuse to not show up for jury duty.

Also, the excuse for financial burden is "extreme" financial burden, not just "any" financial burden.  A lot of companies do not pay their employees for jury duty, so they would all suffer a financial burden, but one day of lost pay is typically not seen as an "extreme" financial burden.
 
qwerty said:
You know why I do with a jury summons? That's right , I treat it like an hoa document, I throw it in the trash. The follow up threats also go in the trash.
Click to expand...
Really?

Don't they issue warrants for no-shows?
 
irvinehomeowner said:
qwerty said:
You know why I do with a jury summons? That's right , I treat it like an hoa document, I throw it in the trash. The follow up threats also go in the trash.
Click to expand...
Really?

Don't they issue warrants for no-shows?
Click to expand...

the follow ups i receive threaten the whole jail/fine thing but never got a follow up after that. still a free man :)

technically i am not a no show since i never signed up for the daily call in.
 
qwerty said:
irvinehomeowner said:
qwerty said:
You know why I do with a jury summons? That's right , I treat it like an hoa document, I throw it in the trash. The follow up threats also go in the trash.
Click to expand...
Really?

Don't they issue warrants for no-shows?
Click to expand...

the follow ups i receive threaten the whole jail/fine thing but never got a follow up after that. still a free man :)

technically i am not a no show since i never signed up for the daily call in.
Click to expand...
I guess we'll find out if you ever get a traffic ticket. That's where warrants usually  show up.
 
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