<p>So, my daughter received a Jury Summons for the District Court in the county where she goes to college (Hampshire College, Hampshire County). She isn't even registered to vote in Massachusetts! She tried to get out of it, but the best she could do is get the date delayed until mid-May, right near the end of the next semester.</p>
<p>Has anyone else's kid had this experience? Any ideas on how she can get out of it?</p>
<p>I'm also guessing that many attorneys aren't going to want teen-aged college students on their jury. I'm hoping that she won't make it through voir dire.</p>
<p>I was called for jury duty while in college (many many moons ago…). I was all set to tell the judge when he got to me that I just couldn’t possibly do it because I was in school. Lucky for me, he got to a different college student before me, and when that student tried to explain he was too busy, the judge completely tore into him about civic duty and how everyone was busy. I probably would have cried if I’d gotten chewed out in public like that! But they ended up filling the jury before they got to me so it didn’t matter.</p>
<p>That’s a tough call, because it really is an important civic duty. Chances are she won’t actually be selected to serve. I’ve been called up twice since then and never needed to actually serve.</p>
<p>I was summoned for jury duty at the end of my college senior year and at the end of law school. Both times, I was to report after I was scheduled to leave the state permanently. I wrote that in both times & was dismissed from jury duty. Not sure how they got my name because I was NOT registered to drive or vote in their states. I guess I was a resident and paying resident tuition though.</p>
<p>I believe there was a thread about jury duty and college kids. In many states, it isn’t easy to get out. So far, neither of my kids have been selected, nor have any of my college relatives.</p>
<p>Attorneys MAY want college kids for their juries–depends on the case. It would be best to be sure you are scheduling for AFTER she’s done with school or during spring break instead of during finals, etc. Most courts can at least work with students on scheduling if asked far enough in advance. I can’t imagine that she would want it right before finals and don’t think that was good planning.</p>
<p>I found it interesting both times I served on juries and would want my kids to have that experience, even though it might be inconvenient. Hopefully they will have some latitude on scheduling.</p>
<p>My son is currently scheduled to go to jury duty too. The notice came just days after he left for school. I informed them that he wouldn’t be available until this summer, but this only got it postponed until early January. I would have notified them that he’ll be 2,000 miles away in January too, but apparently that second notice didn’t allow for any further discussion about availability.</p>
<p>While S was away at college, he was summoned for jury duty at home. He wasn’t registered to vote either - I believe they found out about him through the DMV records. S was able to postpone jury service for a couple of months, until his next semester break. We have a “one day one trial” system here, and S was assigned to a DUI case (of all things). Needless to say, he didn’t make it past voir dire.</p>
<p>My attorney friend told me that when she was a deputy DA, she would always excuse college students and recent graduates from serving on her juries, especially for a DUI case.</p>
<p>OP: You might have your D talk to her advisor or the registrar’s office. They will know better than anyone what the local laws are, and what options she has.</p>
<p>ALF, my D (Amherst) not a MA resident, got summoned sometime around the beginning of this year. She was able to call them and get it postponed until the end of August, when she would be back at school but not yet in class. She took the PVTA down there, sat for 2 hours in a room, and then told she was dismissed (no voir dire)was done and she was out before 10 a.m. I’m not sure if that is the norm for the college kids in the area, just her experience. Maybe she could call and ask if she could postpone like my D did, and arrive at campus a few days early in the fall? Can’t hurt to ask.</p>
<p>Oh yea, D was summoned to jury duty for HI when she was off at school in CA. She forgot to respond and has not heard back. I had wanted her to send in her card telling them what her schedule was, but she honestly wasn’t sure when she’d next be in HI (would definitely NOT be there when they wanted her to appear).</p>
<p>I wrote a letter for son, as no place on form to say he was in college on opposite coast. A year later, his friend got called and told him what we did. Interesting, none of us parents ever got called in 20 years.</p>
<p>When my sister was in graduate school at Smith she was called for Jury Duty. I remember this because they let her serve during the summer and I thought that was a good idea. Since she and her husband are now teachers, that’s still how they serve jury duty.</p>
<p>I was a registered voter in California for five years but only got called up when my son was an infant. I was able to take care of that on the phone. I’ve been a registered voter in Texas for a total of eight years and also have been called up for jury duty once. It was when we lived here last time and so I called to explain that I could only serve until 3pm as I picked up two children from school. The woman on the phone was ready to excuse me when I told her I worked at the courthouse and suggested two judges I could serve jury duty for who never, ever stayed past 2:30pm. I was being serious but she laughed and said that was a good idea, maybe they should make it a jury duty for people with small kids in elementary school.</p>
<p>I wonder how the state found out the girl was attending school in Massachusetts. CT uses MV and voter registrations. DD was called to jury duty in CT while attending school OOS. The Jury Clerk was adamant she return to CT “and stay as long as it takes to fulfill her duty … yes, even that means dropping out of school (and thereby losing her scholarship).” Yeah, sure lady … is crankiness a job requirement for these people???</p>
<p>She should be able to get it postponed. If this doesn’t work, she could act so worried about her classes and obligations to other students that she gives the attorneys the impression that she would not be able to concentrate on a trial or give a fair appraisal of the case; they will dismiss her.</p>
<p>Way back when - I had to miss a day of class to actually testify in a criminal trial. (I had worked as a bank teller and the person on trial had been passing bad checks.) I was very upset at first that I was going to have to leave school - come back home - testify for a day - go back, etc. The prosecutor gave me documentation to give to the dean so that I was excused for the day and had ample time to make up whatever I missed. It was actually kind of an interesting experience.</p>
<p>S1 was summoned for jury duty in the state he attended college ¶ where he had also registered to vote. They didn’t summon him until after he’d graduated & moved to another state. There was a place on the form to indicate that he was no longer a resident of the state.</p>
<p>S2 was summoned for jury duty in our state of resdience (CT). In CT you are allowed to postpone jury duty to sometime in the next 12 months when you will be home. He posponed it for sometime in Aug, served his one day & now is exempt for the next 3 years.</p>
<p>Both of my college age DD were summoned for jury duty in our home state while away. Both times I had to arrange times when they would be home but the “jury duty lady” was very insistent they had to serve. When DD2 was 19 and only home for 3 weeks between school and away internship, she had to report. I felt she would be home a couple of hours later but…Guess what. She was a juror on a 1st degree murder trial which was gruesome beyond belief (although she did not talk about it, as instructed, I could tell she was enormously disturbed). So, never think they don’t want that age on juries. It was a memorable 3 weeks at home that summer.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how MA can summon a resident from another state for Jury Duty. Do they consider resident students a special class of resident eligible for Jury Duty? My son is listed as a commuter student in MA but he has an apartment on the campus. He’s never been called for jury duty.</p>
<p>My daughter was called within three months of her 18 birthday. She wrote on the back of the card that she was a full time student and she sent it back. She never heard from them since.</p>