Yesterday I went to the mailbox and took a peek at the letter on top and it had the dreaded jury duty return address on it. Yikes! I screamed. Then I breathed a big sigh of relief when I realized it was my partner who was on the hook, not me. That got me to wondering about the state of jury duty and if it is more of a hardship to businesses and individuals alike with the state of the economy and business climate right now.

As someone who is relatively newer to being self-employed (at least full time) I know I surely couldn’t afford to miss time in my business to sit in a courtroom. For a day, perhaps that would be ok assuming I didn’t miss a big deadline or crucial client meeting, but for an extended period (as in being selected for the jury), that would be a hardship. Of course when you read the form, I am thinking the authorities don’t care too much about your “hardship”. If you are requesting a medical or infirmity exemption they require a written excuse from a medical professional and even then it states in all caps YELLING AT YOU that there is no guarantee your request will be granted. A compassionate bunch in those court systems.

I have only been called twice in my life (knock wood). Once I had to call into the hotline and was told I did not have to report (dances of glee ensued). The other time I had to report. It was a slow case load so they only interviewed potential jurors for one case. When the defense attorney asked some question about whether anyone present would be biased or have a pre-formed opinion about something or another I rambled on aimlessly. I wasn’t picked. Mission accomplished.

In this case when my partner’s summons arrived I panicked. At first glance it appeared to be the same week we will be out of town attending a very important spiritual retreat. We have invested a lot of money to attend and it is an integral part of our year and our meditation community. I thought how the heck can she get out of jury duty without landing herself in hot water (like to the tune of fines, suspension of a driver’s license, or in some cases, criminal charges)? Luckily when I paused long enough to actually consult a bona fide 2009 calendar, I realized jury duty was the following week. Nonetheless the same dilemma remains for her as it is busy season in her department and her employer will not look kindly on this. Not to mention, who can afford to miss a day(s) of salary?

Each state handles jury duty a little differently so the details escape me. You need to look at your state and local court’s websites for that information. There seems to rage a debate between the “You should be grateful to serve as it is your civic duty” camp and the “It is a pain in my butt waste of time have better things I need to do” camp. Part of what causes this conflict is that the jury duty pay is miniscule. While employers are required to give employees the time off to serve, they are not required to pay them for that day. Some choose to pay you your regular salary, others do not. For most people missing one or more days of salary gets to be a big deal especially during a recession. Not to mention with every business doing the proverbial “more with less” it surely doesn’t benefit the employer either.

Exemptions (aka “Get out of Jury Duty Free” card) occur only at the discretion of the courts. And that is inconsistent in best as it reminds me of the madness that occur in corporate life with the catchall HR phrase “manager discretion”. Sometimes people make reasonable decisions, other times not so much. “Family Friendly Jury Duty” pointed me to this “Family Friendly Culture” article at Wading Thru My Head which shocked me:

A Maryland judge sentenced a breastfeeding mother to a night in jail or a $150 fine, after she asked to postpone her jury duty.

Elizabeth Jett’s baby boy Henry was less than 12 weeks old when she was called for jury duty. “I think it’s a case of priorities. Taking care of your children should be your first priority. Jury duty can always come later,” Jett said.

Jett asked to postpone and serve during the Summer, when Henry would be older and her mother, a full-time teacher, could take care of him and his five-year-old brother.

The Carroll County judge said Jett was in contempt of court, which Jett thought was unbelievable. “I was just shocked. I couldn’t even put it into words,” she said.

I suppose her other option would be to endure this ordeal instead:

When Pamela Greene told a Fairfax County judge she was breast-feeding her 4-month-old daughter last year, she expected to be excused from jury duty.

Instead, the judge informed Greene that breast-feeding wouldn’t be a problem: The court would take plenty of breaks.

What followed was a two-day ordeal in which Greene said she spent every spare moment sitting on a toilet in the jury room restroom pumping breast milk. It was hard to get access to a refrigerator to keep the milk cold, and the bathroom felt unsanitary, she said.

“The entire trial was this endless cycle of testimony, pump, testimony, pump,” she said. “It was really very tough.”

I’m not even a mother, but the whole idea just disturbs me.

I was particularly appalled by the Judicial Committees’ official comments from the “Family Friendly” story:

Brian Frosh, Chair for the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, said the law would cause more people to try to postpone their duties, “If you start saying, we’re gonna excuse people for breastfeeding, you’ve gotta say ok to kidney dialysis, chemotherapy and all the other maladies that afflict the human condition.”

Oh help us! So sorry for the maladies that affect the human condition?! If it is such a problem perhaps we could have robots be jurors. Then you’d only need to ensure they are fully charged. Call it Jury Duty 2.0.

The Clog has this to say about recent jury duty dodgers:

But everybody wasn’t as prepared as Jocelyn. And if Diaz found that your excuses for not showing up didn’t cut the mustard, you were fined $150 – 50 bucks for each summons you ignored – and you still have to serve on a jury in January.

So the bottom line is you can’t give the system your middle finger and think you’ll get off scot free.

Another newsflash – jury duty and social media do not mix. I found this funny postabout a women in the UK who used Facebook to ask all her friends how they would vote in a criminal case in which she was serving on the jury. While truly illegal and unethical it is downright funny.

If you’re just hankering for a way out, take a look at this humorous take on “How to Get Out of Jury Duty”. Some of them are practical enough that they just might work!

If you do get picked, however, this information on “A Day in the Life of Jury Doodie” is a very thoughtful and honest look at how to make the best of your day in court.

What are your jury duty stories? Has your opinion or experience changed in tough economic times? Would love to hear about it…

Photo Credit: Nick Johnson


Paula Gregorowicz, owner of The Paula G. Company, offers life coaching for women who are ready to create their lives and businesses in a way that fits who they are rather than how they were told they “should”. Visit http://www.thepaulagcompany.com and get the free 12 part eCourse “How to Be Comfortable in Your Own Skin” and start taking charge of your own success.