The envelope wafted in front of my face as I scrolled through the messages on my phone, obscuring my vision of the happy announcement (the youngest Miss Menter has arrived!)
“Are you doing relaxation exercises?” my husband asked me.
I averred that I had been, but was now catching up on family news.
“Well you’ve been summoned for jury duty.”
My eyes focused on the envelope from the jury clerk. He was right, I was receiving my first summons for jury duty. I was thrilled. Being on a jury has been on my life list for years. I’ve been eligible for 11 years, but never once summoned.
I slit open the envelope and my face fell.
The date I was scheduled to report was during our family trip to Williamsburg.
I read through the summons carefully until I got to the bottom section titled “Excuses from Jury Service”:
“Under the law, the judge is permitted to excuse you only if your presence is required elsewhere for public welfare, health or safety; if you are physically or mentally infirm that you are not up to the task of jury duty; if you have served on jury within the last year; or, if jury service would cause you extraordinary or compelling personal hardship.”
My only hope was “extraordinary or compelling personal hardship”. We’d have to cancel or change travel arrangements, be out several hundred or thousands of dollars (depending on whether Daniel went without me or if I tried to join the family for just part of the vacation). It’d be a horrid inconvenience, but was it “extraordinary or compelling personal hardship”?
I called the Jury Clerk the next day to explain.
She explained to me that she could not excuse me in advance, as I was only a stand by juror anyway. Instead, she would make a note on my file that I would be out of state for the dates of my trip. She then instructed me to call the day I returned from my trip to learn whether my jury group had been chosen and to serve (or be dismissed) at that time.
So I will be able to travel with the family – and maybe, just maybe, I could still sit on a jury before my years of breastfeeding (and therefore automatic excusal from jury service) begin.
Yeah, I was always hoping to serve on a jury too. I was called twice when I lived in California, but I was always excused after being questioned by the lawyers. I was never called in Nebraska, and now we’re in Wyoming. I hope we’ll be here long enough for me to get called, but then again, I’ll be breastfeeding for at least another eight months (hopefully), perhaps longer.
I’ve been called once and was a.) pregnant with my fourth b.) homeschooling my first and second and c.) the sole daytime caregiver for my third. The judge didn’t look twice at me, which was okay by me. :-)
I’m just the opposite – I have never wanted to serve on a jury. Besides having other things I’d rather do, I’d have a hard time making a decision that is going to affect someone else in such a way. Unless it is super clear, I tend to see both sides and have a hard time making a judgment. So far I have had a valid excuse the 3 or 4 times I have been called.
I’m glad you get to go on your trip!