Jury Duty: How many times can you be called?

[TheMalcolmConnection]

OK, so in the past 3 months, my wife and I have been called a combined 7 times for jury duty. The first two times, I was unable to go due to being out of town, the last time they canceled the trial. Each time SHE was called, she was fully willing and able to go yet each time the trial was canceled. The last three times have been in the span of a month.

Her work is getting fed up with the idea of her constantly taking two days off (the length of the trial) because it's interrupting their office. We got ANOTHER summons in the mail today and it's kind of becoming the last straw. When can we call them up and be like, "Listen up assholes, we're willing to do this but we can't constantly be on pins and needles just to have it canceled again?"

It's getting super annoying and wondered how we be all done with this. We're willing to do our civic duty but they are making this EXTREMELY difficult.

[EARTHQUAKE2689]

I've been summoned 3 times, every time it was cancelled. Now I am like "**** it"

[724Skinsfan]

About the only perk of not registering to vote is not being called for jury duty.

[mooby]

My dad never got called for jury duty once in the last 24 years up until last July, when he got called to do local jury duty every Tuesday for a month. He had to go 3 out of 4 possible Tuesdays. And he just got another letter informing him he's been selected for jury duty in a federal court in Alexandria starting next month, only he's going to have to take a lot more time off because jury duty in federal court is apparantly a lot more time consuming. I hope I never get called for that shit, I mean it sounds like you never know when your bell is going to get called. If I didn't know any better I'd say they keep pulling your name up simply because on the day you're supposed to go you're not needed, so they'll keep calling you up until you are needed.

[ArtMonkDrillz]

I got called for federal jury duty twice while I was in college. I actually kind of wanted to do it but the fed court in Greenbelt was over 100 miles from my school so I was able to get out of it. That was like 7 or 8 years ago and I haven't been called back yet.

[GMScud]

TMC I have no idea what the laws are in your county, but I just went into the Montgomery County Judicial Center for jury duty last Monday, April 4th. I moved back here from Florida in July of 2007, and this was the first time I was called.

It sucked, but it could have been worse. They call you to actually sit for a trial based on your juror number, from lowest to highest. On my day, there were 250+ potential jurors, and my number was 4. Out of 250. And there were 11 different trials on the docket that day. So basically unless an attorney found cause to strike me, I was serving on a jury.

So they call my number for a case, and it turns out it's a civil case that the judge tells us he anticipates will last for at least 2 weeks. WTF!!! Two weeks! I know jury duty is your civic duty and you can't be fired for it, but I am the GM of a $3M+ a year business. Try telling the owner of my company you can't be around for at least two weeks. Ughhhhhhh.

Well, as it turns out, dumb luck was on my side for once. One of my family's closest friends who I've know for 15+ years happens to be a pretty important employee of the company that was being sued for damages. I communicated this to the judge/attorneys, and sure enough, I was dismissed about 2 hours later. So my jury duty experience made me anxious, but ultimately only cost me about 7 hours on a Monday. Not the end of the world. They said it will likely be 3 or more years before I'm summoned again.

Side note- I lived in Florida for over 8 years (from 19-28 years old) and never once got summoned for jury duty.

[jamf]

In California, If you report to JD and are not assigned a case, You are exempt for 1 year.

you get a two year exemption if you get assigned a case and it goes to trial.

[Ruhskins]

I only got called for jury duty once in the past 15 years. And when I did, I was an undergrad student and was exempted from doing it.

[Dirtbag59]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

About the only perk of not registering to vote is not being called for jury duty.

Thats not necessarily true. While many places do use the voter registration list for the Jury pools there are also many areas that use list of people with driver licences as well as tax rolls (ie people who file taxes, ie everyone over 18).

This person explains it better then me:

Not necessarily, but it helps. Jury Commissioners use various lists to make up the jury pool. The most common list -- and therefore, the group of people most likely to be called for jury duty -- is the voter registration list. That is because the qualifications for jurors and the qualifications for voters are virtually identical (citizen of the U.S. and over the age of 18). Therefore, a person who is not registered to vote is less likely to be called for jury duty.

However, some Jury Commissioners also use other lists, including lists of licensed drivers and lists of registered automobile owners. In those jurisdictions, you might be called for jury duty if you are a licensed driver or a registered automobile owner, even if you haven't registered to vote. If you are all three (voter, driver and car owner), you are most likely to be picked.

In short not registering to vote reduces your chances of getting selected but at the same time such action does not necessarily eliminate you as a candidate for jury duty. Another way to get selected for jury duty is to receive government benefits like welfare and unemployment.

[saden1]

Try the following and see if it gets you off:

Your honor, I have a sixth sense for detecting guilt and there is no doubt in my mind that this criminal is guilty. There is no need to waste the court's time and money as I have already done all the necessary work to determine to convict this vile criminal. Also, I will be happy to testify on behalf of the prosecution and share all the information I have sensed with the court.

[tryfuhl]

[tryfuhl]

I never respond to jury duty requests

it has nothing to do with patriotism/national pride, just basic f you over we can make you do this stuff, in my 3 or so requests I've never had an issue

[mredskins]

Originally Posted by 724Skinsfan

About the only perk of not registering to vote is not being called for jury duty.

I think that is a misnomer, I beleive you can be called regardless.

[mredskins]

The worst jury duty I had was two years ago, I was selected as an alternate. I stay and listen to this case for week and then when it when it was time to decide the case I was released. What a waste!

[MTK]

7 times in 3 months? Sounds pretty excessive. I've been called once and that was when I was away at college and couldn't go.