A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about how both my mother and I each received a summons to serve jury duty on the same day, at the same location. Although Meno suggested that it might be interesting to have my 86 year old mother (who has dementia) show up for jury duty, I figured the justice system might not appreciate having her serve. (just a wild guess on my part).
So instead, I promptly returned the forms (o.k. I waited more than a week to send them back, but don't tell anyone, because the forms clearly stated that they needed to be returned within 5 days) . Evidently the fact that I have a child under the age of 12, and am the primary caregiver for my mother, along with an explanation of my mother's dememtia, and my mother's age, were enough to convince the powers that be, that both my mother and I should be excused from jury duty. At least for THIS TIME.
I'm just a little concerned that both of our excusal post cards said "Good cause having been shown, you are hereby excused from Jury Service. This excusal has no bearing on notices for future jury service." Now, I understand that at some point in the future, when Ten is at least Twelve, and I am no longer the primary caregiver for my mom, that I will once again be eligible for jury service. But I wonder if the courts really think that somehow my mother will miraculously no longer have dementia, and will be able to serve.
One can only hope.
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14 comments:
take it as it comes...and you're off the hook for now!!
I vote regularly and never get summoned. Sucky. Ha, you're in for a treat this month with blogging. I will be giving you a bad time when you write a post about how peanut butter doesn't taste like it used to. Go NaBlogPoMo!
Patti is right. Enjoy being off the hook for now and see what happens in the future. I am sure they won't give up trying to get you.
I was excused from jury duty when my son was 3 months old. They called me again a year later to the date. Ugh...
The way some recent juries have decided, maybe they think your mom would be a perfect candidate?
I've never been summoned either. Maybe I don't stay in one place long enough.
Damn! I was really looking forward to the posts about your mother on a jury. :)
I have never been to Jury duty but always hear people moan about it and trying to get out of it. Is it pretty bad to have to be in it? How come? Just wondering.
Have a good weekend!
I'm sure you'll have to continue jumping though hoops to get your mother excused from jury duty in the future. Bureaucracy seldom learns from situations like yours, exceptions to common sense don't compute.
Patti - I figure that I'm off the hook until I get the summons same time next year.
Egan - I get summonsed to jury duty every year about this time. Evidently the courts must have loved my performance during previous tours of duty. I wasn't going to mention the peanut butter thing...but now that you mentioned it, I guess I'll have to write about it.
The Moose Buyer - Watch. I am called every November.
Lynanne - In the county where I live, unless you are a nursing mother, they usually won't excuse you for jury duty. The judges figure that anyone can get a baby sitter for one day. My mother would at least try to focus to the best of her abilities, which as you noted is more than some people on a jury do.
Marsha - I can't figure out how it is that my DH and I get summoned every year, like clockwork, while some people never get summoned. Your moving around a lot probably does have something to do with it.
Meno - Sorry to disappoint you. Now that I think about it, I certainly would have had lots to post about during this month of NaBloPoMoOhNo.
Michele - It's actually not bad at all if you don't mind taking a day off of work, without pay, and being held captive. Not bad at all.
Patches - Last year we needed to get my moms doctor to write a letter stating that she has dementia. This year, I just needed to mention her age. Smaller hoop...larger postage.
That's so totally odd that you live in a state with so many people and get called to be on the jury so often.
Is your mom still a registered voter? I should go back to your other post and see what your answer was to me then...huh?
okay I read the registered voter part. so that explains why she's still in the jury pool. buy yeah, when you are excused from a jury they usually put you right back in the drawing the following year. I guess they keep hoping that eventually you'll be able to do it. when I was a LLL Leader we would get calls from moms all worried about jury duty while nursing. They would tell the court they were nursing and the court would say "okay you're off the hook until next year." totally not taking any thought in that perhaps the baby would still be nursing, but I think they would still get off again for another year.
If you still have a copy of the letter from her doctor I would make them yet another copy and write a letter explaining that while your mom would love to do her civic duty, she is unable and is not expected to ever be able to and that you are her caregiver.
Good luck!
Renee - It really is odd how so many of our neighbors never get called for jury duty, and both my DH and I get 'called' every year like clockwork.
Renee - Fortunately, the court system did not give either my mother or myself, any trouble when it came to excusing us this year. I assume that next year (when Ten is Eleven) both my mother and I will again have no problems getting excused. However, it would be nice if they gave my mother a permanent excuse.
I had never been summoned for jury duty until this year. I would have enjoyed serving in my youth, but am no longer able to because of disabilities that make it impossible for me to sit for any length of time. There are other reasons as well. However, I was, like you, excused for this time. Then about 3 months later the same thing happened. Because it was so soon, I didn't have to have my doctor fill out the forms again, but there's still a chance that I will be recalled.
Mary - I think that it is really strange that you were summoned twice, so close together. I bet you know people who have still never been summoned. Go figure.
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