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I just think it is horrid that they will not allow SAHM out of jury duty with young children. When my children were 1 and 3 I was called. They told me I had to serve, that my husband had to use his vacation days.
He had JUST started a new job, so he earned vacation the more time he worked. At the time he had a day and a half. In NJ, jury duty it two days. Each judge I went to and said I couldn't afford to pay someone to watch my kids AND I didn't know anyone that could did not care.
Too many people that can actually serve and have no desire to, either don't show up or make up ridiculous excuses, making those who cannot serve for valid reasons get 'screwed'
I find it curious that people find childcare so easy and affordable. We have no nearby relatives, the courthouse doesn't provide babysitting, and my dh is self-employed---we cannot afford for him to take time off work, possibly days to sit at home and babysit. Nor could we afford paying for childcare. Is it my civic duty to miss a mortgage payment, or worse, so that I can serve? I think that's a little harsh. It's a pity that not all states will excuse SAHM's altogether.
Stay at home moms who live in the United States need to buck up and serve just like everybody else. Why should that particular group be exempt? So your husband loses money. EVERYBODY who serves loses money.
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Originally Posted by Dorthy
She did make arrangements but unfortunately you never know how many days jury duty will last. It could last one day? two days? a week? a month? For most people it's not impossible to find care for a day or two but after that it gets a lot more complicated. Providing hardships to a small group of people for a small amount of time is not going to bring down the judicial system as we know it.
That's no excuse. For a small amount of time is the key here.
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Originally Posted by Hopes
Parents aren't a small group of people.
Anyone can come up with good reasons to not serve. That's why the courts are so strict about not making exceptions.
Tried to rep here but have to spread the love.
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Originally Posted by andthentherewere3
Local teenagers either go to school or work where I live during weekdays. And I already stated I have no nearby relatives. My dh and I haven't been out alone in two years. Sometimes we hang out with friends, but we usually take our youngest child with us. We actually do have twocollege-age children, but as I stated, they and their friends are unavailable during days, especially several days in a row. But If I could get jury duty for late evenings during the summer I could work that out. And yes,my dh could take time offto babysit, losing all our income. At least parents with employers still get paid during jury duty, but not the self-employed. Civic duty or not, it's an unfair financial burden to many jurors, children or not.
It's interesting that because your situation is different you assume that everyone can live just like you. But when you have children (and I question whether you do) sometimes even when you have a reliable babysitter, emergencies happen. I know my MIL used to have oral emergencies with her teeth; unfortunately when you have an older babysitter health issues can unexpectedly arise. So in this situation I don't see how anyone could blame the woman for not having her babysitter cancel last-minute.
I don't know why I'm bothering with someone with a userID like NoExcuses.
Cry me a frickin' river. You have lots of alternatives that you stated right in your post. Anybody with half a brain would know that if one person couldn't do the childcare every day, get two or three people to help out for a day or two.
I have children. I served. I didn't cry about it. I lost money just like everybody else. I found childcare for two weeks.
And I LIKE my user name.
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Originally Posted by veuvegirl
I just think it is horrid that they will not allow SAHM out of jury duty with young children. When my children were 1 and 3 I was called. They told me I had to serve, that my husband had to use his vacation days.
He had JUST started a new job, so he earned vacation the more time he worked. At the time he had a day and a half. In NJ, jury duty it two days. Each judge I went to and said I couldn't afford to pay someone to watch my kids AND I didn't know anyone that could did not care.
Too many people that can actually serve and have no desire to, either don't show up or make up ridiculous excuses, making those who cannot serve for valid reasons get 'screwed'
You said it yourself, 'ridiculous excuses'. If an effort was made, people could come up with adequate child care.
Court ordered jury duty doesn't happen to most people more than once or twice in their entire life. It's not like it's required every month.
I really think that the court needs to make exceptions for parents with children under the age of 5 in the home. It's not always possible to find someone to watch your children or even afford that expense when it's not something you planned for. I've served twice on a jury and feel that it's an important civic duty but there are certain situations that should be excused. I think primary caregivers of children, the elderly and disabled should be cases to consider for exemption. Some states do this and some states don't. Mine does not.
I would think most states do that. Here you get out if you have children 10 and under or are a student yourself.
She did make arrangements but unfortunately you never know how many days jury duty will last. It could last one day? two days? a week? a month? For most people it's not impossible to find care for a day or two but after that it gets a lot more complicated. Providing hardships to a small group of people for a small amount of time is not going to bring down the judicial system as we know it.
It's pretty easy to get out of jury duty if you want. Sit with your hand raised in the air, act very eager and tell them they should pick you, you'd make a great juror because you can tell just by looking at someone if they're guilty or not.
I would think most states do that. Here you get out if you have children 10 and under or are a student yourself.
It varies form state to state. If you look at the "family friendly jury" link that I posted earlier, you can look up individual states and you will see that some states offer exemptions and some do not. Some are more generous then others.
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Originally Posted by malamute
It's pretty easy to get out of jury duty if you want. Sit with your hand raised in the air, act very eager and tell them they should pick you, you'd make a great juror because you can tell just by looking at someone if they're guilty or not.
I've been called for jury duty twice and was selected as a juror both times. I saw people first hand trying to get out of jury duty. One man pretended that he was deaf (He might have really been deaf but the way he was acting was so over the top that I seriously doubt it) and was excused. A couple of people stated to the lawyers during questioning that they could not be impartial or were totally in favor of things like violence against women and were excused. I also have known people who just don't show up and nothing ever comes of it.
I feel that stay at home parents with small children in the home should be considered for exemption on a case by case basis. I'm sure that there are some who have easy access to childcare and would welcome the opportunity to serve as it would be far more interesting then the day to day routine of staying home. Others don't have childcare and/or are unable to leave their children (who are used to being home with Mom) with a stranger for extended periods of time. What about mothers who are breastfeeding? If I was selected and forced to put my child in the court childcare I would be so stressed out and preoccupied that I would have a hard time focusing on the trial at hand. That's not fair to anyone.
It's pretty easy to get out of jury duty if you want. Sit with your hand raised in the air, act very eager and tell them they should pick you, you'd make a great juror because you can tell just by looking at someone if they're guilty or not.
You can easily get out of being picked for a jury, but you have still have to stay for the entire day (or days in some states).
I told the lawyers that I thought the DA's office was corrupt (not a lie--my true feelings). I spent the rest of the day reading a book.
You can easily get out of being picked for a jury, but you have still have to stay for the entire day (or days in some states).
Not necessarily. The first time that I served was in a small town where everyone knew everyone so jury selection lasted an entire day. The next time, the longest anyone who was not selected had to stay was 4 hours.
Not necessarily. The first time that I served was in a small town where everyone knew everyone so jury selection lasted an entire day. The next time, the longest anyone who was not selected had to stay was 4 hours.
Good point. That makes sense in a small town since the trial schedule is smaller.
In large metro areas, the trial schedule is full. They keep everyone there all day long---just in case a jury needs to be suddenly picked.
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I think that's a little harsh. It's a pity that not all states will excuse SAHM's altogether.
I saw people first hand trying to get out of jury duty. One man pretended that he was deaf (He might have really been deaf but the way he was acting was so over the top that I seriously doubt it) and was excused. A couple of people stated to the lawyers during questioning that they could not be impartial or were totally in favor of things like violence against women and were excused.
I also have known people who just don't show up and nothing ever comes of it. 
