help me get out of jury duty ... or give me some advice?

[udonoogen]

yes, i would like to fulfill my civic duty. i've always wanted to do it because i thought it'd be fun. but not this time. i've been summoned to come in on the 26th of january.

little background on me ...
(1) i don't have a car and the courthouse (norwalk) is like an hour away from my parents place (this is for LA county)
(2) i'm a full time student
(3) i'm finishing up my last semester up in northern california 400 miles away
(4) after i finish school in may i dont know where i'll be settling ... up north or down in socal ... or elsewhere
(5) i'm going on vacation until january 6th
(6) school starts on january 21

what do i do? is there anything i can put down on my form that will get me out of jury duty? i heard its possible to defer it but since i'm not sure where i'll be in may ... isn't that bad? how many times can you defer a summons? thanks!

Don

 

[boyRacer]

i always went... but apparently... from some threads over here... if you dont respond... they never bother you again.

 

[minendo]

i'm a full time student

That's all you need.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: boyRacer
i always went... but apparently... from some threads over here... if you dont respond... they never bother you again.

you risk a huge fine

you can call them and postpone to whenever is convinent for you, i'm sure there is some bus line that goes there

 

[rh71]

I hear you can defer it once. I'm summoned for Jan.6th myself... and I plan to fulfill it this time. BUT what are some things I can do while being questioned so I can get off without serving days ?

 

[DaWhim]

I am a communist <---this one always works

 

[AreaCode707]

make a doc apt for when the trial would be

<--would do jury duty if needed

 

[JBAR]

Just say you have ADD and can't sit through a trial.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: JBAR
Just say you have ADD and can't sit through a trial.

dont they require doctors note for medical excuses?

 

[OrganizedChaos]

Go and do a good job, then hope someone is kind enough to repay the favor when your time comes. generaly the people on juries are the ones who aren't smart enough to get out of it.

 

[bootymac]

he's guilty

 

[HappyPuppy]

Originally posted by: minendo

i'm a full time student

That's all you need.

No it isn't. The courts don't care if you are a student. Why would they? I have to support my family and they don't care.

 

[BigKev]

Just send them a note back saying they can stick the legal system up their @$$. Their reply should be interesting.

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy

Originally posted by: minendo

i'm a full time student

That's all you need.

No it isn't. The courts don't care if you are a student. Why would they? I have to support my family and they don't care.

Claiming to be a full time student around here works. They delay your jury duty for a quarter, at least that is what they tell you. They never contact you again.

 

[IamElectro]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy

Originally posted by: minendo

i'm a full time student

That's all you need.

No it isn't. The courts don't care if you are a student. Why would they? I have to support my family and they don't care.

This is all it took for me to get out of jury duty in West Virginia. I do believe this is a legitimate excuse.

If that doesnt work tell them your racist, they will get rid of you quick.

 

[nativesunshine]

say you don't know how to speak english...

that's how my mom got out of jury duty. hehe..

i dunno what excuse i could come up with if i ever received jury duty. knowing my luck..they'll deny my claim that I'm a full time student or something. we'll see when/if it happens, i guess.

 

[AdamDuritz99]

Originally posted by: HappyPuppy

Originally posted by: minendo

i'm a full time student

That's all you need.

No it isn't. The courts don't care if you are a student. Why would they? I have to support my family and they don't care.

I believe claiming full time student in TN will get you out of it for the semester.

peace
sean

 

[Cyberian]

Originally posted by: nativesunshine
say you don't know how to speak english...

that's how my mom got out of jury duty. hehe..

i dunno what excuse i could come up with if i ever received jury duty. knowing my luck..they'll deny my claim that I'm a full time student or something. we'll see when/if it happens, i guess.

hehe - Does your Mom actually speak English?

 

[crab]

Its called duty for a reason.

 

[plk21]

Just do it.

My mom got called up for duty on a federal grand jury. Got out of it because A) I was like 2 months old and int the hospital, and B) the court was 2 hours away, and mom didn't have a car. She called the clerk's office, explained the situation to them, and they excused her over the phone. (of course, this was in 1976)

If you can, do it, it is our responsibility as citizens. But if you truly have extinuating circumstances, call the clerk, and talk to them. Explain, don't beg.

--
PK

 

[sillymofo]

Just change your address to another county... and change it back and forth... and never have to go to jury duty.

 

[Rogue]

I was summoned once so far in my life but declined because I was getting deployed after 9/11. Besides, they most likely would have ruled me out since I'm a Military Policeman. For some reason, defense attorneys don't usually like cops to be on the jury.

 

[csf]

It depends on the state. I live in TX but go to school in NJ, and TX has a student exemption, while NJ, for some moronic reason, does not. Guess where I'm registered to vote (as a result of an unreasonable summons... they wanted me to appear in NJ while I was at home for the summer, obviously that's not realistic)? Seriously though, considering how much the government pushes college education as an important public/state interest, it makes no sense why the state would want to disrupt a student's education for something as trivial as a one day court summons. A lot of people here seem to be a little over-the-top in implying that you're some kind of bad person or traitor if you have reservations about doing jury duty due to pre-existing obligations, especially considering you're a student and just near the beginning of legal adulthood. Don't skip out entirely, but I imagine if you give the court a call in advance and tell them your case you'll get a delay or exemption, unless you get unlucky and get some totally irrational person on the line, which isn't entirely unconcievable. I imagine things will turn out fine though.

 

[dvdrdiscs]

you are allowed a one time extension. call in and extend it to a week that has holidays. that'll limit y our chance that you will be called in. last year i extended my duty til the week of xmas which means there's only 3 business days for the court. i even spoke to the lady who works there and she said the chance of me being called in is next to none since there isn't much time for the court to handle things during holiday weeks. it was especially hard during xmas cuz all the judges were on vacations

 

[Kenny]

CA has no exception on the full time student thing. If you're really that busy, they make you do it on your next break.

I, however, got out of it due to change of county.

It's only going to be one day. You'll enjoy the experience, and if you really don't wanna stick around when you're there, just be a non-english speaking racist during the interview.