Reno: If you have young children you might be exempt. Give your court a call to see what the rules are that may automatically excuse you from jury duty. Good luck.

Jury duty can be a very interesting, educational experience. It can also be a horrific nightmare. All depends on what kind of case you get, what the judge is like and what the lawyers are like.

I've served on two juries. The first time it was an unbelievably horrible child abuse case. I went into it blindly thinking it would be fun to serve on a jury. It was not. I might get flamed for this but the next time I was called for jury duty, I purposely answered the questions they asked with an eye for getting out of it. I wasn't dishonest, I was just vocal. It was a case of a guy pulling a gun on his girlfriend and after the last case I'd served on I just did not want to hear the gory details of someone else's life.

I did recently serve on another jury, just a few months ago. It was a case of drug possession with intent to sell. This time I kept my mouth shut and got picked, and the case was interesting and the judge was fabulous.

I would not hesitate to serve on another jury, it just took me a loooong time to sort of recover from what I heard in the courtroom that first time. The best way to get picked is just to keep your mouth shut. The lawyers and judge ask a lot of questions in voir dire before the trial begins which are in fact designed to weed out those who shouldn't be serving, and they pretty much make it easy for you to opt out if you choose to.

They do tell you what the case is about as soon as you get in the courtroom so if it's a child abuse case or something you don't think you can tolerate, you at least know that in advance. I will say that aside from that sort of thing if you're worried about internalizing it, I would highly encourage you to serve if you can. It's important that we give a little of our time to the government for jury trials since we are so priveleged to live in a country where this is the law. And it's really a very good experience. Plus think of the example to your kids when you go off to do your civic duty!

Oh, and I think most cases are over with pretty quickly. The one I just served on, they told us it would be 3-4 days, it turned out to be 2 and a half. Good luck!

cup, you can only be exempt if you are responsible for the children's care on a full time basis and if they are under 10 years old. If they are in any kind of day care, full time or after school, due to you working, you can't use that as an excuse.

Well, my youngest is 8, and I'm the sole care giver after school. Does that count? Or will they note that I have the better portion of the day "free" (yeah, right!)?

Reno, I think that counts. There should be a spot on your summons where you can just fill that in and send it back in, then you don't have to show up at all.

Chances are they will release you that day. And most trials are no more than 1 day. I would love to serve on a jury, but no defense attorney or prosecutor wants an attorney whose father is a retired senior police officer. They are afraid people like me would basically take over the deliberations, which is probably somewhat true.

I almost ended up on a very notorious jury in Boston. A man had allowed his lover to molest his child. Horrible case. Notorious because the father was a social worker. I was the last person released. Both attorneys tried to get me released for cause, but the judge wouldn't let them. The defense attorney finally used his last peremptory challenge on me. I was there three days. But that is unusual. Every other time I've gone I've been released that day. DH has never been called.

I personally think that it is important for everyone to make time for jury duty. Otherwise juries end up full of retired or unemployed people, and that is not a well-rounded jury. Juries should include all aspects of society.

Hi reno! Good news and bad news here.

The bad news first. In y(our) county you are pretty much stuck. You have to show up. I showed up many years ago with a nursing baby. If you have an excuse they don't want to hear it on the phone. Helps keep the excuses legit. Then you have your chance to make your argument about whatever responsibilities you have at home. Make prior arrangements for your kids' activities, have them go home with friends after school and if necessary, tell their coaches/whatever that you have jury duty for a week and if you can't arrange alternate transportation the world won't fall in.

You realize if you make all these arrangements beforehand you will not be picked!

The good news. This is your chance to serve your community. If your child, God forbid, were a victim, you would unquestionably want sensitive, intelligent women on the jury. Our community doesn't require a great deal of our time, nor require it very often, but it is important that we serve when and if called. sue36 said it perfectly- "Juries should include all aspects of society."

I agree, I don't think you are going to get out of it because you work full-time. In my county at least, you have to be a full-time stay-at-home mom to young children or the sole caregiver to an elderly dependent (full-time) to be excused. I'm not sure about your county but I bet its something similar.

I bet that with a few phone calls, you can arrange alternate transportation for your kids' activities in the event that you should get picked.

Even in my county you can get out of it as a nursing mom only IF you aren't working. If you are working they will just allow you to pump as you do at work.

I don't think you will get picked - with what you said, they may not want you, since you internalize it so deeply. Or, the prosecution may want that. Who knows. But chances are, you won't get picked. They always call WAY more jurors for a case than they will need - many will be excused, many will have an excuse.

When you are really screwed is when you are called for a federal jury. They don't give prior excuses for nothin'. It's a different system than the various county and state systems. I was called for one once, for a high-profile case that they said could take 6 months! I did go see them and said that no way could we afford childcare for 6 months - it would be a financial hardship. They did excuse me.

My mom served on a rape case once and did enjoy the process. It was the first conviction by DNA in Orange County. And she was amused because the woman's CAT totally attacked the guy. He had broken into her apartment via an open bathroom window.

My dh served on a defamation of character case. I forget what business, but the employee left and started a new company and took the clients with him, and badmouthed the previous employer. The employer sued and won - the jury awarded him a hefty $1. LOL

Both cases lasted about 3 weeks.

I agree with what was said above - should you be the victim you would definitely want someone like yourself - an intelligent woman - on the jury. So if you can do it without creating a hardship for your family, you definitely should.

My excuse of having children under 13 was accepted until last year when my youngest hit 14. I explained that I had to pick my kids up after school (don't work) and they went along with that. Ok, I'm going to be a bad citizen and tell you my experience of last summer. I had to report one afternoon and misjudged the amount of time it took me to park and walk to the correct building downtown, and so ended up checking in ten minutes late. We had been divided into two groups according to when we checked in; the first group was called in to the judge, and a few minutes later my group was excused because they didn't need so many people. So...., well I was soooo busy that week that I was glad. I do feel quite guilty, but must admit at the time was also relieved. I hope that someday I can serve, and at the rate they call me it may be next year!

Wow, maybe the laws are different in Texas, maybe it's just because I live in a big city (Houston) so they are able to call large numbers of people every day. But my jury summons always have a place on the form where you can fill in an exemption -- you pick from a list -- and send it back. Sole caregiver of child under 10 is one of about 4 or 5 reasons for exemptions. You just check off the reason, sign it (equivalent to swearing that it's true) and send it back.

Full time student is also an exemption, and the first few times I got summoned I was a student or I was a SAHM and I just sent the form back in. No one ever called or came to check or questioned me. I simply cannot imagine that they force you to come down if you really are exempt. I'd like to see a mother of four kids under the age of 10 drag them all down to the courthouse with her just so they can say, ok, you can go home. That's horrible.

Yeah, I'm sure that some people do lie on that form, even though your signature is considered to be an oath. But my experience with jury duty is that they don't want people who don't want to serve. They make it very easy for you to get out of it, both before showing up, in the big room where everyone gathers, and in the courtroom where the make the actual jury pick. Forcing people to serve probably makes for difficulties in many cases so it's much better to weed out those people before the trial starts.

Oh - and it's also easy to reschedule. One time I got called about two weeks before I was supposed to go out of town. I called up and just asked to reschedule. They gave me a new date. Easy as that.

I've never served in Texas because I've always had a child under ten. It's great that it's so easy to be released from jury duty. My husband is called every other year, and usually is de-selected by the lawyers.

Well, I read the form again. The process is to start on a Monday. In order to (attempt to) be excused, I would have to appear the Friday before, and bring any documentation to support my reasons to be excused. (Documentation???)

It reads: "Requests for excuse will not be considered at any other time."

So I guess I'll go down there and see if my reasons qualify. If not, I'll serve. (If they'll have me...)

Documentation- well, I'd take copies of the kids' birth certificates to show their ages (minor children dependent on you for transportation) as well as your business cards and a printout of your current listings. I'm sure that's overkill, but you never know.

My husband was called to jury duty yesterday (murder trial, maybe 5 months) and was given a deferrment because he has a critical federal job that he could be called away for at any time.

Others were excused because of financial hardship, one because she had to take inter-city public transit which was expensive and time consuming. Several got off with medical notes, one because he suffered panic attacks in stressful situations. My husband said that the judge was very generous in accepting excuses.

A number of people for whom a 5 month commitment was too much were shifted to a 3 week trial starting next week.

Reno,

Read your summons carefully and then call and ask for a deferral if there is not a way listed. In Massachusetts, you can defer your duty up to six months without having to list a reason.