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Summoned for Jury Duty and SSI Disability, anxious! D=

A

Art-Lover74

Active Member
Okay, hi, good morning.
So a couple of weeks ago, when I came home from school (I'm in college) and from visiting my friends, my dad showed me that I got a postcard that said, "You have been summoned for jury service."
So now I'm very anxious and have been anxious since yesterday evening. Things like this and when I went to the doctor for a check up, I was very nervous and anxious. I'm on Social Security Disability and I can't serve. I hope the judge excuses me. If not then, I don't know what to do I may have to end up going tomorrow. I don't have a lot of time!! I'm gonna get my primary care doctor to write a letter. I called last night, but they were close to closing time. I'm scared that I'm gonna get fined and jailed. This is my first time receiving a summons for jury duty. Has this happened to any of y'all? I received a letter from the jury office two hours ago it remind me that my appearance date is tomorrow morning. I don't think I'll be excuse. I'm freaking out right now!! :cold:
 
Art-Lover74 said:
Okay, hi, good morning.
So a couple of weeks ago, when I came home from school (I'm in college) and from visiting my friends, my dad showed me that I got a postcard that said, "You have been summoned for jury service."
So now I'm very anxious and have been anxious since yesterday evening. Things like this and when I went to the doctor for a check up, I was very nervous and anxious. I'm on Social Security Disability and I can't serve. I hope the judge excuses me. If not then, I don't know what to do I may have to end up going tomorrow. I don't have a lot of time!! I'm gonna get my primary care doctor to write a letter. I called last night, but they were close to closing time. I'm scared that I'm gonna get fined and jailed. This is my first time receiving a summons for jury duty. Has this happened to any of y'all? I received a letter from the jury office two hours ago it remind me that my appearance date is tomorrow morning. I don't think I'll be excuse. I'm freaking out right now!! :cold:
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Without valid medical documentation having run out of time...yeah, it sounds like you'll have to plead your own case to the court. Probably the best thing is to be prepared, by composing a thoughtful written account of your request to be excused from jury duty to be handed to a court clerk where you must immediately report to. One thing you don't want to do is not show up or be late. Otherwise it's possible for sheriff's deputies to knock on your door to take you there.

Or

Simply do what is requested. You may find it's not nearly as intimidating for you as it is for a defendant or plaintiff. There's also the possibility that you might not even be picked, and subsequently discharged the same day.

I can get very nervous over any public venue where I must speak. I get that. But sometimes you simply have to push yourself the best you can and leave it at that.
 
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Have you postponed before? Because you do have the right to postphone service once before you have to actually appear. I would recommend doing that and then getting the medical documents together to fight it. I tried with my visual impairment but in the letter i received back from them they told me that most people unless profoundly impaired will not be excused from service. However I found that doing call in service where you call to check if your numbers are up is better and less stressful. I have already been told now that I have done call in service that it won't be for a long time if I get called again. Plus because of my clinical social work background they don't want you a jury...teehee. Anyway good luck it will be ok.
 
Oh ok. I have to call after 4:30pm so I have two hours to do so. Should I call or email them to postpone? I Emailed them yesterday and they didn't reply to that yet.
 
Art-Lover74 said:
Oh ok. I have to call after 4:30pm so I have two hours to do so. Should I call or email them to postpone? I Emailed them yesterday and they didn't reply to that yet.
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Call them and have them postpone it. You can postpone once as I did when I was in college to a more convient time. Then try to get your paperwork done. Honestly the call in service was easier for me. Less nerve wracking than going and sitting a crowded place.
 
When i showed up for jury duty, at the beginning of the whole thing, they announced that anyone who had a reason to not do jury duty could come to a desk, and get excused.
 
In this day and age I'd think even the municipal court systems let alone superior courts would have plenty online to refer to about directions, procedure, policy, etc.. Probably just a matter of googling. As for how lenient they may or may not be about jury duty may well vary quite a bit from one jurisdiction to another.

example: Jury Service Basics - jury_service
 
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I called them and requested a postponement and now my new date is on January 30 of next year so I don't have to worry about that for the next three months. Thank you. :)
 
I postponed my jury duty date and it's now January 30th. I was worried that it was too late, but the lady on the phone was willing to change my date. No worries now. I'm still gonna do the letter from a doctor a bit latter. What a relieve. Thanks everyone. :)
 
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Art-Lover74 said:
I postponed my jury duty date and it's now January 30th. I was worried that it was too late, but the lady on the phone was willing to change my date. No worries now. I'm still gonna do the letter from a doctor a bit latter. What a relieve. Thanks everyone. :)
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Good deal. You should be free and clear of the matter with documentation from a physician. The system isn't geared to force people to serve who have medical or other types of legitimate hardships.
 
Good I am glad I saw your post and could steer you in the right direction. I hope having the time to get the proper documents and such will allow you to be more able to deal with it when it comes. I hope that they accept your documentation. Congrats on getting it postponed.
 
I'm not really sure if they would want me to be on a jury or not, I've never had to serve. One time, I got out of it due to being a college student and the other two times I didn't have to show up because it got cancelled at the last minute or something. I'd go and serve if I had to, but I'm perfectly happy to get out of it if I can.
 
IContainMultitudes said:
I'm not really sure if they would want me to be on a jury or not, I've never had to serve. One time, I got out of it due to being a college student and the other two times I didn't have to show up because it got cancelled at the last minute or something. I'd go and serve if I had to, but I'm perfectly happy to get out of it if I can.
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Oh I suspect for most people in general it's an inconvenience at the very least. Parking is usually awful near any courthouse!

From my perspective I found the nuances of the jury selection process odd to say the least. Never had a firm idea of why they took me, although in each case there didn't seem to be any obvious questions that would make or break me from serving. I suppose if it ever involves a capital case then how one feels about capital punishment would probably be a decisive factor either way. I'm just pretty certain they would never take me on any civil matter having been an insurance underwriter. Tort lawyers don't seem to like us for some reason...LOL.
 
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