<p>I think that college students should be excused. There are plenty of other people to serve. I’ve gone in twice and wasn’t selected either time. I heard so many ridiculous excuses get sent home, but I guess you really don’t want someone who doesn’t want to be there if it’s your freedom on the line. </p>
<p>One guy said he had 11 children so he couldn’t serve (seems like we could charge him with irresponsible conception). A few others said they couldn’t speak English well enough to serve (possibly true - but no way to confirm). And then there were MANY people claiming to be the sole caretaker of someone…that seemed to be the most popular excuse. I’m sure true for some…but so many? really?</p>
<p>OP, there’s a t-shirt I have seen sold at air-shows. It says “Shoot’em all and let God sort’em out.”. I’m guessing that would get him excused in a hurry :-).</p>
<p>Not in CA. I have a friend who was working overseas in Egypt for a few years and he kept getting summoned. He kept telling them he lived in Egypt and they kept telling him he had to serve.</p>
<p>The problem with students is that some professors just won’t excuse them and the absences could have far-reaching consequences. Employers, generally, won’t fire over jury duty. But you are right that for some jobs it could be a huge hardship.</p>
<p>Just back from jury duty. Was in a courtroom for a murder case expected to last 3 weeks. When the judge was pontificating on what ‘extreme personal hardship’ meant. A younger girl raised her hand and said she was scheduled to start classes next week and if that qualified. The judge stated he felt that for most students missing the first few weeks of class would constitute such a hardship. </p>
<p>Not sure what the jury selection process is in your state/county, but in NJ there are standard questions you are allowed to answer yes to as to why you can’t serve. You typically need to approach the bench & explain, however today, they dismissed anyone who answered yes without a need to explain.</p>
<p>" Anyone with a legitimate reason for not undertaking the duty in a given instance due to schedule conflicts with important personal commitments can pass for a future date "</p>
<p>Oh , so the only legitimate reason not to want to serve is “schedule conflicts” ??</p>
<p>Howzabout I don’t want my beautiful wife to even have to appear because I don’t want her wandering around the courthouse and then getting followed home by some just-bailed-out rapist ??</p>
<p>Obviously you don’t care about your own or your significant other’s security, but **** I DO !! ****</p>
<p>OTOH , maybe you <em>want</em> your spouse to be the victim of a brutal crime … more power to ya , kluge !!</p>
<p>Scheduling conflicts can usually be resolved by choosing a different date. that’s the case here, anyway. You have two chances to defer and if you select an alternate date the county clerk will work with you. Seems like a perfect solution to me. The court system gets engaged, respectful jurors rather than stressed, resentful ones.</p>
<p>
Maybe she could put a bag over her head and wear a baggy coat. Then no one would notice.</p>
<p>In fact, S did choose the upcoming dates to serve-- just wondering how sympathetic the powers that be will be if the commitment were to last beyond his week-long fall break. Does that constitute a huge hardship in the court’s eyes? We are in NY state. He does not go to school out of state, but about 2 hours from home.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, S is very bummed out about having to spend his break serving, but such is the territory that comes with being an adult…</p>
<p>I covered a trial several years ago where one of the jurors was a CC student. The trial was expected to be over before the start of the semester but got delayed. The judge personally called each of the student’s professors and explained the situation. </p>
<p>I have been called multiple times for jury duty when I was nursing (my children are very spread out) and was always given a year exemption, but never recalled nearly that quickly. I think it had been at least five years since I was called, which I was this Summer.</p>
<p>There is a number you call the night before to see if you have to come in. Because my date was a Monday, I was confident I would at least have to go in and I did. The presiding Judge came in and spoke to us. </p>
<p>We live in a high-crime and very litigious county. However, the Judge said that about 90 percent of cases settle or plea out the day the trial was suppose to start. And he said that our simple presence in the building was why that happens. Are the attorneys and their clients really sure they want to trust these people gathered here?</p>
<p>I wonder if other jurisdictions have such a high rate of cases not going to trial?</p>
<p>I will not address whether that post was paranoid or not. But I will say that in my city, getting witnesses to testify for gang shootings is very tough because there actually is the very real threat of retaliation. And there are people who do not want to serve on a jury in a crime like that because they feel scared.</p>
<p>My daughter was among the MANY college kids at her jury session yesterday. The judge seemed to be very cognizant of vacation schedules. Most of the students were dismissed but will probably be called again during the summer. I was impressed that the judge was so reasonable!</p>