<p>MA does not care. In fact, it may be the only state that summons’ non-residents under penalty of jail time. A student can 1) either miss class (and whatever points the professor gives them for attendance), or, 2) defer to a break period. Of course, for those on financial aid or who live a long distance away, that is a virtual impossibility since dorms are closed during breaks.</p>
<p>OTOH, try applying to UMass Law or Med as a ‘resident’ and see how much love they show a four-year part-timer. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>MA targets college kids because the can. Simple.</p>
<p>I got called to jury duty when in college. In a city 120 miles from my college town and I had no transportation. I got out of it.</p>
<p>With that said, depending on how much they pay, your D might like the money. My court was going to pay $60 a day plus $100 or so for lodging. That was good money in college.</p>
<p>I don’t really get what the “out of state” issue is. Why does it matter where you are a “legal resident” or where you’re registered to vote? Voting has nothing to do with jury duty. If you are living in any state for a large part of the year, regardless of whether that’s your “legal” residence, then you are a part of that community. I don’t know what would make a resident of MA, for example, ineligible to sit on a jury in VA. It would be a pain to be called in two places in one year, but if you’re being called for a time that you’re residing in that state, then you should either report on your assigned day or formally request a deferral. If you’re getting called just before or during finals, request a deferral. </p>
<p>If, on the other hand, you’re being called to serve in your home state in the middle of a semester away at college, or being called by your college when you’re at home for the summer, that’s a different matter.</p>
<p>College students want to be respected as adults. They want their opinions to matter. Therefore, they need to act like adults - and jury duty is an adult responsibility. </p>
<p>EVERYONE is busy. Everyone has responsibilities. Doctors, accountants, mothers of small children… there are very few folks just sitting around waiting to be called for jury duty. Why should college students be an exception? Yes, we pay tuition to attend college. But a self-employed person who is called to jury duty is giving up a day’s wages - more if they end up on a trial. How is that any different?</p>
<p>As for being penalized by a professor for missing class, jury duty is a legal responsibility. I’m sure a jury duty notice, when given to the Dean’s office, will generate an excused absence that a professor cannot ignore.</p>
<p>So what if the unemployed do if they get called to jury duty on a day they have a job interview? Everyone has a life, and most people don’t include jury duty in their plans.</p>
<p>I’m all about college students - I’ve got two of them. But they’re not a special class of people that shouldn’t have the same citizenship obligations that the rest of the adult population has. (Unless they’re called to jury duty during a time when they are residing somewhere far away).</p>
<p>A woman I know is the Business Manager for our town. Due to budget cutbacks and layoffs, she has staff who are now doing their own job and half (or more) of someone else’s. This woman herself had been working until 10pm during a particularly busy point in the fiscal year, even though she has 2 young children, because a man who had a crucial position in her dept went out on an emergency medical leave that ended up stretching for weeks. In the mean time, she got called for Jury Duty. She went, and got put on a trial, and missed 4 days in the office. But she went - because Jury Duty is a civic responsibility. I’m sure she would have loved to explain why she “couldn’t” be on a jury right now.</p>
<p>BCEagle, I see that you are from NH, which is perhaps explaining your clear bias against MA. That’s fine, but I don’t want to have my life in the hands of a jury of my “peers” that consists entirely of people who have nothing better to do than sit on jury duty.</p>
<p>An ad hominem (Latin: “to the man”), also known as argumentum ad
hominem, is an attempt to link the validity of a premise to a
characteristic or belief of the person advocating the premise.[1] The
ad hominem is a classic logical fallacy,[2] but it is not always
fallacious. For in some instances, questions of personal conduct,
character, motives, etc., are legitimate and relevant to the issue.[3]</p>
<p>Ad hominem abuse (also called personal abuse or personal attacks)
usually involves insulting or belittling one’s opponent in order to
invalidate his or her argument, but can also involve pointing out
factual but ostensible character flaws or actions which are irrelevant
to the opponent’s argument. This tactic is logically fallacious
because insults and even true negative facts about the opponent’s
personal character have nothing to do with the logical merits of the
opponent’s arguments or assertions.</p>
<p>– Wikipedia</p>
<p>That said, you are still wrong. I have residences in NH, MA and
Singapore.</p>
<p>And you are further incorrect about a state bias. I don’t believe that
college students should be required to serve jury duty while they are
in class. The state is incompetent, irrelevent and immaterial.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>I take it that you have no problems with your country being defended
by people that have nothing better to do than serve in the military?</p>
<p>And then there’s this:</p>
<p>According to a September survey of 824 business-school graduates from
around the world, 88% of M.B.A. and other graduate management alumni
from the class of 2010 had a job, a slight increase from 84% of the
class of 2009 a year earlier, according to the Graduate Management
Admission Council.</p>
<p>wsj.com</p>
<p>You wouldn’t want the 12% of MBA grads that didn’t find work on a
jury?</p>
<p>How about this: would you want someone dumb enough to not be able
to get out of jury duty to serve on your jury?</p>
<p>wow… I think I’ll get on with my life and leave this discussion now, since it’s clearly going downhill and I don’t care about this subject nearly enough to spend my Friday evening doing Google research on unemployment or crime rates in various states.</p>
<p>That’s what happens when someone comes in with a holier-than-thou
attitude.</p>
<br>
<br>
<p>The crime stats news was all over the radio, tv and newsprint news.</p>
<p>The unemployment report came out this morning at 8:30 AM. I heard it
on the radio driving to work. It was all over the TV and news
websites.</p>
<p>How can you not be paying attention to the unemployment situation in
MA if you live there? Haven’t you seen the budget cuts year after year
after year? When I talk to my sisters in California, talk naturally
gravitates to the employment issue.</p>
<p>No one says that they should not be called by their home state, where they vote (and parents pay taxes) and are permanent residents. The fact that they are just visiting MA part-time for 8/9 months a year, is just that, temporary. </p>
<p>Add in the fact that it appears that MA is the only state that imposes such a requirement on its OOS students, who are temporary residents…it just doesn’t make any sense to me.</p>
[quote]
I’m all about college students - I’ve got two of them. But they’re not a special class of people that shouldn’t have the same citizenship obligations that the rest of the adult population has. (Unless they’re called to jury duty during a time when they are residing somewhere far away).</p>
<p>I may be a bit confused, but why should my D be called to jury duty in MA for the simple reason she goes to school there, and also be on jury call in her home state? So students that go to school in a state other than MA, and reside in another state should be exempt?</p>
<p>Both my girls were called for jury duty, about a week apart, this fall. Maryland has an opt out for college students. Why? Because so many of them wouldn’t be able to travel home for jury duty. I had to send a copy of their student ID, tuition receipt, official schedule, or grade report to get them out of it. I know I sent one of them very late, but all seems to be well so far.</p>
<p>I was called as a first semester freshman as well. Do they smell it or something when kids have just left home? The timing seems very strange.</p>
<p>Since your first freshman semester probably is around the time of your first voter registration, or shortly after, the timing doesn’t seem strange to me at all. Remember, that’s the way most states handle it. Massachusetts is the bizarre exception.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s one of the major points. Dear Court: Are you willing to pay for RT airfare for students going to college across the country? Not to mention, are you willing to send letters to all their professors as to why they cannot sit for particular exams/ finish certain papers, labs, etc./ show up for recitals/sections while they’re Doing Their Public Duty thousands of miles away? </p>
<p>I see full-time college students, during terms of attendance, as essentially being on assignment, just as if they were military personnel. Unless you’ve taken a hiatus from those responsibilities by declaring yourself absent, you are not just free to absent yourself. You have primary responsibilities. As to this, from Lafalum:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Nor do I. But I don’t have a lot of options for better juries unless the antiquated pay rate is improved, or all employers are willing to pay full wages minus jury pay.</p>
<p>I was a witness to an accident (I called the police) and received a call from the DA about appearing in court. I said that I would be out of the country for three weeks and asked if he wanted to postpone. He said that it was okay; he’d work out a plea deal.</p>
<p>I’ve read that the vast majority of cases involve plea agreements; else the court system would grind to a near halt. I know folks that have gotten out of jury duty - moms that have to drive their kids around and provide care. I’ve only been called once and I just sent them a mail back stating that I was moving. Never heard from them again.</p>
<p>I think that the traveling thing is a problem for everyone; not just college students.</p>
<p>“In the 4 pages, it was determined that MA is special and can call in college students for jury duty, even if their permanent residences are out of state.”</p>
<p>Well, yes, that about sums it up.</p>
<p>“ALF, the PVTA bus will drop her off in front of the courthouse. I know it is an inconvenience, but it is just something she will have to do.” </p>
<p>GA2012MOM, maybe there is more than one courthouse in the county, because the Hampshire County District Court building is located at 205 State Street (Route 202), in Belchertown. I checked the PVTA maps, and getting there would require taking the #38 from Hampshire College to Amherst Center, then changing to the #30 to Belchertown. From there, it is either a 20-minute walk to the courthouse, or one could take the infrequent BTS (BelcherTown Shuttle) that goes to Route 21, which would be a short walk to the courthouse. Either way, it is a 2-hour bus/walk trip to go less than 10 miles.</p>
<p>Finally, it was not my intent to explore the finer points of the jury system or whether or not unemployed workers should become jurors. I learned early on in this thread that MA is indeed unique in requiring out-of-state college students to serve on juries, which remains a bizarre concept for me. </p>
<p>My daughter, who takes such responsibilities more seriously than I, intends to serve and is casting about for transportation solutions.</p>
<p>BTW, after all that, the court called our daughter on the day she was to report, and told her that there were no jury trials scheduled. She had changed her plane reservation to accommodate her jury summons and ended up sitting around campus for a few extra days.</p>