Getting out of jury duty?

I was called to jury duty on a week I have with my son.... I have no child care for him (its in August). It's actually a week he and I go to a camp through our church. It's sleep away.... I work and he gets to go for free. I'm not going to say this though, but If I send them a copy of his birth certificate and write a letter explaining that I have no one to watch him, as it is indicated in the card, will they let me off easily?

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

I'm pretty sure you can postpone once without any explanation.

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Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Message edited 7/22/2013 11:59:36 PM.

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

You can postpone the first time they call you to jury duty. My school asks that we postpone and request a time that school is not in session, if possible. So each time I have gotten called for jury duty, I've postponed once. After that, you kind of have to take what they give you....but it won't be for a few months, so you should be good.

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

I think you should cross that bridge if it comes to it.



I think unless it's grand jury, you should be okay.

When all my postponements were up, I had to go way out East (for me) to criminal court in Riverhead. I was there until about noon.

The judge point blank asked if anyone had any kind of reason that they could not commit for at least 2-3 weeks of service to raise their hand.

I did, as did half the room and we were all let go on the spot.

You also never know.......you may welcome the distraction down the road to keep your mind off things.

Also, to be fair, would you be taking off a bunch of time from work if something happens?

I'm not trying to be a pot-stirrer at all, but I often think we have it engrained in us, that if it's jury duty, it's something awful and we need to get it of it.

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

My mother postponed 1 time and then after that her house had a house fire. Right after the house fire, she got called for jury duty. She went to the jury duty and told the judge that she just had a house fire (brought documents as proof) and she didn't think she would be able to concentrate on the case. The judge excused her and marked her as time served.

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Actually.... Quite the contrary! I'm disappointed! I always wanted to do jury duty!!!

Eta It just sucks I'd have to do it in a year when I'm an independent contractor getting paid hourly. When I get called again, its gonna suck because 40 bucks a day aunt gonna cut it!!!!

Message edited 7/23/2013 7:48:52 AM.

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

the time that I got called in the judge basically excused anyone who didnt want to be there- people had all sorts of excuses... Just because you get called to go on that first day, doesn't mean you are going to be selected to actually be on the jury, so I wouldn't stress about it...

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

I think childcare is the ONLY excuse that allows ypu to postpone prior to the date of service. The directions are on the summons.

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Getting out of jury duty?

The first time you can definitely postpone without providing a reason. I did this because I was suppose to have jury duty the last week of school.

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Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

You can postpone the first time with no reason.
You will be asked to give a new date between 2 and 6 months from the original service date that you would be available - AND you will be called on that date.
If you need to postpone again, you have to go to the court to explain and give proof why.

No one is excused, child care is not a valid reason anymore.
I was just on jury duty in May, postponed from March because I was on a business trip.
Everyone in the jury room was called for a jury - I got off the case I was being seated for because one of the detectives on the case is a family member.

Getting out of jury duty?

They do not let you out of Grand Jury duty lightly. Very few people picked from the pool were excused, the rest of us were empaneled. I served every Tuesday for two years and was only allowed four days off.

Regular jury duty is different. Lots of people seem to be let off of those. Maybe it depends on the judge and how big the jury pool.

I do know that when my kids were under 10 years old I was always let off. When they were really little I thought it was hilarious to write: "I'd love to serve. Is there a nursing room for my infant?" I was always excused.

I actually enjoy serving on a jury. While some days can be excruciatingly boring, the rest are usually interesting as are fellow jurors. It's fascinating to see our legal system at work.

Message edited 7/23/2013 11:50:08 AM.

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

again just toss the notices out. when they send you a (must sign) official piece of mail then deal with it.

Getting out of jury duty?

If your trip is booked, they will let you postpone it.

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Re: Getting out of jury duty?

Re: Getting out of jury duty?

I recently submitted a letter stating that I was the primary caregiver with no other alternatives for childcare and submitted copies of my DCs' birth certificates.


I've also served on a Suffolk's Grand Jury and they asked those who could not serve to raise a hand and they were excused right then and there. (That was at least 8 years ago, so I don't know if things have changed.)