Illinois Jury Duty - WTF?

[cstreit]

It's been a few years since I've been called for Jury Duty. A few weeks ago my wife got her summons.

Now when I went, you showed up on a certain day, waited, and either they interviewed and/or picked you, or you went home.

Now she's got to call in twice per day for a week. Once at noon and once at like 5PM. If they select her, she's got to be there (the noon one exactly 1.5 hours later). So she's already had to spend one day there because they called her. NOW she got the message she has to go in again tomorrow.

So we have two young kids which means that I'm on hold for work the whole week too. It's impossible to arrange for child care with a few hours notice. ...and if she's selected for a Jury then it goes even longer!

So while I'm a believer in our system, this is absolutely ridiculous. How the hell can they own your a$$ under penalty of law for a week, being on-call with no way out. If I was traveling this week, (and I do have to next week), there will be no one to watch our kids. So either I have to risk canceling work on a moments notice or my wife has to break the law.... ...you can get leave if YOU have jury duty, but not when your spouse does. How do you arrange child care with 1.5 hours of notice?! This new system sucks!

Suggestions? (...and dumping our kids with an unknown stranger is not an option.)

[m21sniper]

You believe in our system?

You're talking about our "justice system?"

Wow....so you're the one.

If a summons doesn't come registered mail, many(most?) people will just ignore it. They cannot prove you got it.

[masraum]

I've been called a couple of times here. You go down the first day, if they don't call you then you have to call in every night after 5 pm or something like that to see if you have to go the next day.

Calling twice a day sucks booty.

[LakeCleElum]

Understand your frustration, but calling in sure beats just going in every day and sitting in the large room for the jury pool.

I live in a small county and just served by calling in once a week for 5 weeks. I didn't have to go in once.

Maybe she should take the kids with her; bet she would be outta there in record time...

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by cstreit

Suggestions? (...and dumping our kids with an unknown stranger is not an option.)

Call the Clerk of Court and explain the situation. See what can be done.

[GG Allin]

And let me guess, you live in Naperville and they want her on a jury downtown? The last two times a got a notice in the mail, I blew it off. I'm not going downtown, no thanks. My peers don't have court down there. My peers have court in Rolling Meadows. But they've never sent me a notice to appear there.

[Nostril Cheese]

Call the court clerk. She should be excused if she's a stay at home mom.

[legion]

What kind of jury duty? Federal or County?

If county, which county? Will or DuPage? (I assume Will.)

Here in McLean County, it's not like that, you call in the night before for the next day.

Keep in mind, the jury duty system is largely setup to be most convenient to the judges and lawyers.

If this is federal, do no blow it off. Federal judges are notorious for being hardasses.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

Call the court clerk. She should be excused if she's a stay at home mom.

Ay there's the rub... They call you at noon, you have to show up at 1:30.

They allow you to call in at 4:00, then put you on hold untill after closing, so you can't actually SPEAK to anyone untill it's too late.

I didn't mind having to show up, when they dismissed you, you're done. Now they OWN you for a week, on call with hours notice. I told her to go, explain to them the situation and get out of it. If she gets selected, she won't be able to go anyway as there is no "stand-by" daycare that can be setup in with 1-2 hours notice. Additionally no one will accept, "I MIGHT bring them in some time in the next 5 days." Just doesn't work that way.

The situation just aggravates me as they make it impossible for the intelligent employed citizen to be on a jury. Who in today's world can reschedule everything at a moments notice? I know my employers wouldn't accept me just sitting at home for a week waiting for a phone call that MIGHT come.... That's really the big issue. Sure you can get off work for Jury Duty, it's the law. But can you get off for "maybe on call?" I don't think so!

[stealthn]

Maybe it`ll be the 73RS Fraud case

[1990C4S]

Have her show up with the kids.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Have her show up with the kids.

+1

With kids in tow she will be sent home ASAP.

It is frustrating that jury duty is so difficult.

[Mo_Gearhead]

Have her wear a Burka.

I hear it's the latest trend in Illinois jury-wear.

[jyl]

Jury duty is a significant inconvenience. That said, if you want to be tried by a jury when you're accused of something, then you have to accept the price of occasionally serving on a jury. So, I think the goal is to design the system to minimize the inconvenience to the jury pool.

The thinking of the courts is probably, yes it is inconvenient for the person to be "on call" for a week, but at least that is better than being forced to sit at the courthouse for a week. Makes sense to me.

Now, only 90 minutes' notice to get to the court is certainly a lot less convenient that 1 day's notice. But there is probably a trade-off for convenience. Giving more notice probably means that more people will be called to actually come sit in the courthouse.

Think of it in manufacturing terms - there is a volatile and uncertain demand for jurors, the court's ability to forecast improves the closer you get to the date/hour, so longer notice means poorer forecasting and means the court needs more "buffer inventory" of jurors sitting in the courthouse.

For someone who gets summoned, what to do? If you're working, you simply warn co-workers etc that you are "on call" and don't schedule critical business stuff that week - if impossible then you reschedule your duty to a later date (every court I've heard of will permit that). If you get "called" then you go - by law, your employer cannot stop or punish you, and most of us aren't really as important as we think anyway - your company will probably survive your brief absence.

If you are a stay-at-home parent with small children, it may be possible to get excused. Illinois Legal Aid | How Can I Get Out of Jury Duty? Otherwise, you or your spouse will have to make arrangements, that's all there is to it. Suppose your wife got H1N1 or broke her leg, and went in the hospital, you'd find a way to look after the kids, this is no different.

I've never been summoned for jury duty. When I was a lawyer, I really wanted to serve on a jury, as I thought it'd give me some insight, but I would have been kicked off any panel. Now I don't care either way, but I don't know if they'd still kick me off or not.

[1990C4S]

Hmmm. You fall and break your leg in the house with two small children present. An ambulance shows up. Where do the kids go if you have no family etc? Must be a common problem.

[looneybin]

it's done on line here
you log on after 5:00 the day before & they let you know if you are needed the next day.
You only have to check if you are needed for Mon, Tues & Wed.
If they have not selected any juries by Wed then you are not needed any longer

[Danimal16]

Originally Posted by m21sniper

You're talking about our "justice system?"

It is a Legal System. Justice has little to do with it. At least a Jury gives us Hope.

[cstreit]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Hmmm. You fall and break your leg in the house with two small children present. An ambulance shows up. Where do the kids go if you have no family etc? Must be a common problem.

With all due respect, you're making poor analogies. Yes, in an extreme circumstance such as breaking a leg, you have to do something. However a broken leg does not have you out of the house for a WEEK. We could call a neighbor with no problems. ...but asking that same neighbor to be 'on call' for a week is NOT reasonable.

I have no issues with the "inconvenience" of Jury Duty and get pissed off when people lie to get out of it. I've been 5 times. However my issue is the length of time combined with the minimal notice. Again, it used to be 2 days max, if they didn't use you, they released you and that was that. The minimum notice time combined with that length of time makes it unreasonable. If they had simply said "You will be here 8-5 on these two days", much easier. ...but you MIGHT be here during unknown hours over the course of a week?

Could YOU plan for that without undue inconvenience? (...and if you don't have multiple kids with no family in town, don't bother answering, you have no clue what it's like). What would you do then?

[Rick Lee]

When I had it in fed. court, one of the potential jurors had just dropped his wife off for back surgery and was going to be waiting on her hand and foot for the next six wks. Judge said too bad. No shows got picked by US Marshals, fined $1k and a day in jail. Man, that judge was a hardhass.

[VaSteve]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

When I had it in fed. court, one of the potential jurors had just dropped his wife off for back surgery and was going to be waiting on her hand and foot for the next six wks. Judge said too bad. No shows got picked by US Marshals, fined $1k and a day in jail. Man, that judge was a hardhass.

Yow. What district?