Jury Duty

[maryhahnward]

Has a caregiver on this forum received a summons for jury duty? If so how did you handle it?

I am T's fulltime caregiver in that he does not drive anymore so he is homebound if someone isn't here and I help him with some of his ADL's.

I was thinking that I should have the physician write a note saying I am his caregiver and it is an undue burden for me to be on jury duty.

 

[Nikki J]

Federal or local? For fed you can supposedly write a letter citing undue hardship and inconvenience. Local will obviously vary. If you can't find any information on your summons look up on line and see where you can call and ask. While I would not lie and say he can't be left alone ( if he can) I would play up that he has ALS,I am his caregiver etc. It really does depend where you live though. Good luck

 

[affected]

I did, but I'm in Australia so no idea how different things are.

I simply phoned the office and the lady nearly cried with me, told me what they wanted in writing and I sent that in.

I would hope it's much the same with you, if you care caring for the terminally ill, surely ...

 

[skipper66]

I would think you could get out of it in a heartbeart due to the circumstances. There should be somebody you could call to get out of it. You have enough on your plate as it is. Good luck to you.

 

[Barbie]

there is a form you get with it to ask to be excused. one of the options is fulltime caregiver for disabled. you will be permanently excused.

 

[rosec]

I got jury summons a couple years ago. I put down on the form that my husband has ALS and that I am his primary caregiver. I got excused, and I haven't heard from them since.

 

[Atsugi]

Try to handle it by mail or phone if you can.
I showed up once, waited for an hour before being dismissed.
Another time I showed up, was questioned by lawyers, deemed not needed for duty, but it took all day to get dismissed.

Although a judge is supposed to make the decision, in reality the clerk can easily just drop your name of the list without any problem. Just call.

 

[maryhahnward]

Thanks everyone - they don't allow phone calls, I submitted my 'excuse' online and will see what they say. I'm sure the doc will write a note but it's just another step to have to take if I don't have to. I was on jury duty years ago and was dismissed pretty quick just because I wasn't picked. I'm hoping they just excuse me.

One time my son was called up for jury duty when he was in Iraq. I had to jump through hoops to get him excused and then I was like, hey, if you can bring him back that would work for me too!