James S
Flashlight Enthusiast
I've been called for the first time to Jury duty, and also been denied a deferment and I'm curious if other counties or states make it as rough on people as mine does.
It is not that I do not wish to perform my civic duty, quite the opposite actually. At some point in the future I would be very interested to get a look at the legal system from the inside without actually standing before the judge myself My problem is that I am the primary caregiver for 2 small children. My wife starts her work day early and often works late and taking time off for her that is not planned for long in advance means having her office do a LOT of rescheduling and means more losses than just canceling a few appointments. Basically it means that it is not possible for her to take a day or a week off to watch the kids. My career is more flexible time wise and so it was I that decided to work at home and take care of the kids.
I explained in a letter to them that I was not able to afford the extra child care necessary to show up at the house at 7am so that I could go and sit in their offices, but that in another year or 2 when the youngest was in day care or pre-school I'd be happy to do it then. They replied that there was no legal reason why I couldn't go and therefore was expected to show up.
This is ludicrous isn't it? Then design a system where I can't even plan ahead more than 12 hours. I cannot find out if they even need me, nor when or for how long until after 6pm the night before. You are supposed to call in after 6 and enter your juror number and then they will tell you where to show up the next day. You must do this for every day for a week. So I'm supposed to find a babysitter for 7am the next morning after 6pm the night before? Sorry, life doesn't work that way. It's going to cost me hundreds of dollars in extra child care to pull this off when if I could plan ahead I could do it for significantly less, or if they would just let me ride for 2 years till Ben is in pre-school it would cost me nothing to do it. I would not have to leave the children with baby sitters I dont usually use and everybody would be happy.
Instead I'm seriously considering taking myself off the voters rolls for the next couple of years to avoid being called again. Hows that for democracy in action, make it so onerous for you to do this that you can't afford to!
I just can't believe that everywhere runs this the same way, is it true that you basically have to be on call without any idea if you will need child care for a week? Is child care really not a valid reason not to be on a jury when you wont know how many days it might be before you come home? Or is it just some weird reverse discrimination thing against me because I'm a man trying to use child care as an excuse.
Before anybody tries to berate me for not wanting to do my duty, as I said above, I want to do this! I'm very interested in the whole process. I just can't do it right now as it is putting a significant burden on me. Anybody that has had children will know what a scheduling and expensive baby sitter issue a week of potentially having someone in at 7am is!
I'm tempted to just tell the judge that I'd make an excellent juror because I can spot guilty people just by looking at them But of course, we already know the law has no sense of humor, so I'll probably avoid being flippant, but I'll be honest if they care to hear what difficulty I'm going through to be there for them.
It is not that I do not wish to perform my civic duty, quite the opposite actually. At some point in the future I would be very interested to get a look at the legal system from the inside without actually standing before the judge myself My problem is that I am the primary caregiver for 2 small children. My wife starts her work day early and often works late and taking time off for her that is not planned for long in advance means having her office do a LOT of rescheduling and means more losses than just canceling a few appointments. Basically it means that it is not possible for her to take a day or a week off to watch the kids. My career is more flexible time wise and so it was I that decided to work at home and take care of the kids.
I explained in a letter to them that I was not able to afford the extra child care necessary to show up at the house at 7am so that I could go and sit in their offices, but that in another year or 2 when the youngest was in day care or pre-school I'd be happy to do it then. They replied that there was no legal reason why I couldn't go and therefore was expected to show up.
This is ludicrous isn't it? Then design a system where I can't even plan ahead more than 12 hours. I cannot find out if they even need me, nor when or for how long until after 6pm the night before. You are supposed to call in after 6 and enter your juror number and then they will tell you where to show up the next day. You must do this for every day for a week. So I'm supposed to find a babysitter for 7am the next morning after 6pm the night before? Sorry, life doesn't work that way. It's going to cost me hundreds of dollars in extra child care to pull this off when if I could plan ahead I could do it for significantly less, or if they would just let me ride for 2 years till Ben is in pre-school it would cost me nothing to do it. I would not have to leave the children with baby sitters I dont usually use and everybody would be happy.
Instead I'm seriously considering taking myself off the voters rolls for the next couple of years to avoid being called again. Hows that for democracy in action, make it so onerous for you to do this that you can't afford to!
I just can't believe that everywhere runs this the same way, is it true that you basically have to be on call without any idea if you will need child care for a week? Is child care really not a valid reason not to be on a jury when you wont know how many days it might be before you come home? Or is it just some weird reverse discrimination thing against me because I'm a man trying to use child care as an excuse.
Before anybody tries to berate me for not wanting to do my duty, as I said above, I want to do this! I'm very interested in the whole process. I just can't do it right now as it is putting a significant burden on me. Anybody that has had children will know what a scheduling and expensive baby sitter issue a week of potentially having someone in at 7am is!
I'm tempted to just tell the judge that I'd make an excellent juror because I can spot guilty people just by looking at them But of course, we already know the law has no sense of humor, so I'll probably avoid being flippant, but I'll be honest if they care to hear what difficulty I'm going through to be there for them.