USC wife got jury duty - can she get out of it on account of needing to support both of us?

[peanutismint 35]

I moved to the US a few months ago and I’m still waiting on my work permit, but my wife got selected for jury duty last week and because we are financially limited at the minute with her providing for both of us I’m wondering whether anyone knows if this would excuse her from jury duty?  I mean, if the government don’t want me to become a burden on the welfare system they probably shouldn’t take money out of our pockets at this frugal time…! 😄

[arken 4,197]

She can postpone it for several months for the time being. 

[Cryssiekins 976]

Agreed with above.  Postponing is likely the better option as I would assume the bar for financial hardship is quite high.  

 

Have her call the court to see what the procedure is in that jurisdiction.

[Ben&Zian 4,398]

Depending on her job, some offer paid leave because of jury duty. I know mine does as it is a legal 'requirement' so to say for citizens. Or she could go throw a fit and make a scene during final jury selection and get eliminated lol.

[Jeanne Adil 1,651]

probably not

she can try 

but even getting off one jury ,  you still need to report to the jury pool for further cases

and being chosen only means a limited time (like mine last one was 2 weeks)

i have been  chosen in every state lived in since age 18 even when i was attending college as i had property in my name (and this one was the hardest as i was only allowed to miss 3 classes for the entire semester)

but your situation is not going to influence the court

like i said ,  she is part of a pool for any cases before the court in this given period so getting excused from one case will not help for all of them

 

Edited June 17, 2019 by adil-rafa

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

Only the judge can excuse her. She will still have to appear. 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, peanutismint said:

I moved to the US a few months ago and I’m still waiting on my work permit, but my wife got selected for jury duty last week and because we are financially limited at the minute with her providing for both of us I’m wondering whether anyone knows if this would excuse her from jury duty?  I mean, if the government don’t want me to become a burden on the welfare system they probably shouldn’t take money out of our pockets at this frugal time…! 😄

 

A decent jury summons will outline the reasons a person can be excused and how to claim that in advance. She may have to appear for the call for lack of an excusable reason and when the judge asks if there is anyone present who needs to be excused, she can rattle off her woes hoping the judge will send her on her way.

 

The summons may may also provide a phone number to call after 5 pm on the Friday before the Monday jury pool call. Often you will hear a recording that says settled out of court, so don't come.

 

 Many well organized counties have an online way to confirm your attendance in advance. My wife learned a good tip when she appeared and got selected for the jury. A bloke told her don't register online. Do it when you arrive on the day of call. You will end up way down the list with a high number. Selection and striking starts with #1 person on the list and continues up in order. If you are 1-30, you have a higher probability of getting chosen. If you are #100, then they have likely found 12 jurors way before they get to you. 

 

(These are experiences from my county. Your county could be totally different.)

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

As a former legal assistant and law clerk (I'm now a newly minted attorney), I've assisted in voir dire on five jury cases, from rinky-dink unlawful detainer matters to a six-week trial on a multi-million dollar breach of contract suit. What I say really only applies to my experience in three counties in Southern California, so YMMV, but in my experience the "financial hardship" excuse is down to the judge and how he/she feels on the day. I've seen people who said they couldn't cope with losing a day because they were in the entertainment industry and were due on set get told they were not excused, to people who barely put up a reason at all get excused. Sometimes the lawyers will take pity on jurors who plead financial hardship and use one of their peremptory strikes, but I wouldn't count on it. It is absolutely worth your wife pleading her case because sometimes judges and attorneys can be very sympathetic.

On the flipside, I've also been in the jury pool for a federal trial (I've always managed to squeeze out of being called to report for state superior court duty after being chosen) and was very, very close to being selected. I didn't want to be there, because I was attending law school AND working full time, and it was going to seriously f--- up my schedule. Ultimately, I wasn't chosen because I couldn't be fair in considering the matter (I was a victim of the same offense that was at issue), but I couldn't tell this until we had almost a complete jury. You never know what kind of curveballs voir dire will throw!

 

Also, lawyers really do appreciate what the jury gives up to be there in the courtroom. There's a reason why we have to stand up for the jury when they enter and exit the courtroom -- we owe them our respect. 

[Umka36 781]

You can defer it to another date within a year (allowed to do this up to 2 times - based on King County, WA). I had to due to my kids school schedule conflicting. It also helps that my employer pays me for jury duty. When I did a deferral, I was able to select the date of my jury duty based on what was available that month.

 

Very few exceptions to get excused, can't read/understand English is the most common excuse I see being used. Basically gets you off the mailing for jury duty. One of the juror was in my pool and the judge dismissed her for lack of understanding English and funny thing is she wanted to serve. Trying to get out of the jury pool isn't as easy as it sounds. The judge can/will grill you why you can't postpone such event.

 

 

 

[yuna628 9,680]

I am a caregiver to my parents who would depend on me each day and my husband would have to take off of work to transport me to the courthouse. When I got called for jury duty it certainly would have been a burden and hardship. So I called the clerk - and they basically told me that all I could do was write a letter to the judge with my reasons and provide medical documentation (this was at extremely short notice). She stated this would likely only result in a deferment though. When I further stated about my transportation issues (I live well out of town in the middle of the woods) she rudely told me I'd just have to walk it (hahahaha) to the nearest bus station. There was no way I was going to bother about all that hassle, so I'd have to do it somehow. I scrambled and had to make arrangements and checked online every day until I was called. The judge didn't really want to hear about anyone's tales of woe (there was a woman there in a cast and another that was three days out from major back surgery and in pain.. and another that had to travel from extremely far away) but he certainly did want to know if anyone in the room had been a victim of a crime or was familiar with the case (I was). And he also wanted to know my feelings about gun rights and property protection. That was a difficult but easy answer to provide for him, and he excused me very quickly. It's clear his attorneys would not have wanted me, as I was in the 'find him guilty' column. My service was done. In most places jury service is going to be like this. It's very hard to get out of service, and it's a needed and important function of society.

Edited June 18, 2019 by yuna628

[nosleep 130]

Getting out of jury duty isn't as easy as some would suggest (at least not in my experience).  The last time I was selected I remember on the first day there were about 200 people in the room and when they asked if there was anyone who felt they needed to be excused, several lined up.  The judge was very vocal about saying no (i.e. everyone could hear how angry he was about the number of people wanting to be excused).  In the end there were about 25 people in the line and the only people I saw leave the room was a woman that looked about 9 months pregnant and I man with the military who had orders to report.

[SalishSea 17,928]

Not sure about Pierce Co, but in King Co, you can usually defer once for work/financial obligations.  I was a single mom with an employer letter, and for the second summons I had to show up.  Luckily, I was dismissed after the required two days without being picked for a jury.

 

Now I have paid jury duty leave through my employer, so I wouldn't mind another shot at it.

[Loren Y 2,755]

Yes, usually you always have to show up, then nothing to do but sit and hope you don't get selected. I've served on county, and at the federal court. I agree with the one poster to register late online, or show up not registered so you end up on the bottom of the list, so you are only out 1 day of your time. The only good thing about being selected is that here, they remove you from the call list for 3 year's, so you don't have to show up for a while if you end up serving.

[TBoneTX 45,537]

There are ways to get struck (stricken?) from consideration during voir dire; however, for that, one must show up and lose one's day.

 

I've found that judges always give a big speech about how glorious jury service is and how valuable its potential servants are; however, most people seem to associate the experience with having a colonoscopy without sedation.

[cyclone27 710]

Nearly 30yrs only served on 1 civil case as a jury member. (2days)

 

It use to be 1 show first day but now it’s just a phone automated system for one to check if they have to report.  In our county you are in a pool of potentials for 1mo.