Jury Duty in Federal Court

I get you! I haven’t had a federal call yet, knock on wood, but I would have to go downtown, pay highway robbery for parking, and fight traffic. I could take the train, but I worry about delays and getting in trouble with the court. I would be a cranky juror.

I received a notice for federal court, however, I had a prepaid nonrefundable vacation so I was excused. They tried again a few months later when school started and my mom was in the hospital and I transport my so to school due to open enrollment. Excused. The third time was for summer and another prepaid nonrefundable vacation.

This was about 4-5 years ago and they haven't tried again. The ast try was during covid.

I'm about 65 miles away. I'm sure it's be interesting and if I was retired it’d be great. It’s a pain for teachers to plan to be out.

I was called for circuit court two weeks ago and they were planning to seat three juries for three criminal trials. I ended up being the sixth person called for the first trial but the defense struck me as a juror. It was “criminal sexual assault of a minor” and the defense appeared to strike anyone who was a parent or grandparent. Didn’t matter though… I saw in last week’s paper he was convicted anyway. Then we were all dismissed as the other two cases were settled before trial.

I was called for jury duty in federal court about six years ago. I was actually excited about the prospect of it despite it being in the capital city an hour and a half a day. Unfortunately, at the last minute we were all dismissed as the cases were settled.

Jury duty is rarely convenient for any of us, but I do believe it’s an important part of our civic duty.

I've been called pretty much every year for 23 years. And I'm on call next week.

I have been registered to vote since the minute I turned 18, but had NEVER been called for jury duty, not even once. Until the pandemic. Seriously?   I can't remember if it was before vaccines, or right after they had come out. But there was no way I was going to do that. I replied that I wasn't young anymore (although of course too many young people died of covid anyway) and I was not going to come into the courthouse to sit in a room with other people. They deferred me.

Two years later I got another summons. Here we are told to phone in after 5:00 p.m. of the evening before our report date, to hear whether or not we'll be required to come in. I called and the recording said I did not have to report. whew. But, that counted as my jury duty so now I'm off the hook for three more years (that was last year). We'll see if they find me again. I guess I wouldn't mind going just to see how it is. But it would be easy for me to get there.. I could walk if I wanted, or take the subway. If I had to drive into a difficult large city that wasn't close by... well that would be a hard no. 

Don’t respond. Unless you had to sign for that summons, nobody could prove you ever received it. 

I totally get the anxiety. Our courthouse isn’t in the best location and I fast walk from the garage to the building. I’ve served on a jury but have also asked to be excused. My employer only pays for three days and this was a 3-4 week case. The judge was “are you sure you can’t go three weeks without pay?” I have a credit card and some cash in the bank and I felt guilty saying no. I get summoned almost every year so I’m sure I’ll have a chance to serve again.

I served as foreperson for a federal jury about 40 years ago. It was fascinating

Two cousins being tried together for possession with intent to distribute (crack and coke). I lived in Houston at the time and the courthouse was downtown, so 10ish miles.

Relying on someone to drive you 70 miles one-way, multiple times a week is asking a lot of someone. And Uber will get expensive very quickly.