Summoned for Jury Duty - New SAHM

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just served last month and I will share what I observed.

Women who said they were nursing were excused.

Women who simply said they couldn't serve b/c they were the primary childcare parent were lectured by the judge about civic duty and asked over and over "and so there is no one else who can watch your children?" And also questioned on why the other parent couldn't step up to parent.

Perhaps it was just a picky judge, but yeah, if you can swing it, say you're nursing.

My husband bills by the hour. If he has to not work because I am at jury duty he loses a lot of money. It’s not a reasonable ask. Like a pp said, I’ll go when my kids can watch themselves. Thankfully I’m in VA which seems more lenient. My husband is a lawyer so he never gets called.

Everyone loses money to serve. That seems like a very non-legitimate excuse...my husband would lose more money than the average person because he is a high paid attorney!

The difference is you can afford to pay for child care.

I was mocking the PP who said it was not a reasonable ask as her husband would lose a lot of money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just served last month and I will share what I observed.

Women who said they were nursing were excused.

Women who simply said they couldn't serve b/c they were the primary childcare parent were lectured by the judge about civic duty and asked over and over "and so there is no one else who can watch your children?" And also questioned on why the other parent couldn't step up to parent.

Perhaps it was just a picky judge, but yeah, if you can swing it, say you're nursing.

My husband bills by the hour. If he has to not work because I am at jury duty he loses a lot of money. It’s not a reasonable ask. Like a pp said, I’ll go when my kids can watch themselves. Thankfully I’m in VA which seems more lenient. My husband is a lawyer so he never gets called.

Then be takes a portion of that money and hires childcare.

It's nice to be rich enough to have choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you really have no babysitter you could ask? What would you do if you needed to go to a medical appointment? If you explain during voir dire that you are the primary childcare provider they should excuse you.

You get $50 for jury duty. It costs much more for a babysitter. It's not a fair ask of SAMP.

Yes, we can have our nanny come for $26/hour and $39/hour for overtime...plus employer taxes. That's $325+ per day if I'm there 8 am - 5 pm plus commuting time, not to mention paying for parking/Uber because I don't feel safe walking to/riding the metro in the morning anymore. I checked, and they do have onsite provided childcare for children 2.5 and up who are potty trained, but we wouldn't be qualified for that. I also don't have anyone to drive my son to school and pick him up, though I could probably burden another parent to help in a pinch.

I understand that jury service isn't convenient for anyone; I just didn't realize that it is extra difficult as a stay at home parent.

You have a regular nanny. Not comparable. We have never used child care or a babysitter. You are clearly pretty comfortable. I quit as with a masters degree my entire income would have gone to day care for one.

If you're a normal middle class SAHP you make friends with other normal middle class SAHP's and sometimes trade to watch each other kids. It's just these people who think they are too good to do that, and prefer to pay through the nose for babysitting, but then refuse to pay for babysitting for their civic duty who think they should get out of it.

If you're not able to have your husband take off for urgent things, can't afford a babysitter, and have no friends, then you probably need to fix your life because you're very close to a disaster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has a child care center in the superior courthouse. I don't think "my child will be traumatized by staying with the court's staff" is going to go over well. You can ask, but you may have to go in. If you don't want the court child care, you'd need to find someone else to watch your kids. I have a feeling you'll be dismissed though--both sides want jurors who are not distracted or grumpy.

+1 to all this

I served on a jury recently and it was a huge childcare hassle. I'm not a SAHM but I WFH and normally pick my kid up from school at 3. My DH was able to take the afternoon off on the day of my service, but then I wound up on a jury for 4 days and DH was leaving down for work, and we couldn't get into aftercare on short notice, so we hired a sitter. It was annoying to do on short notice and hard to set it up with the school to have the sitter do pickup on the fly.

But as the judge in my case explained, "I have to work" or "I have a kid" are not exceptional hardships. That describes most people. In order to have juries at all, people have to be willing to deal with his imposition. You just suck it up and then it's over -- you aren't special, this is what everyone must do.

If you cannot afford child care it is an excuse.

Well that’s not OP’s situation. But as a trial lawyer, I can tell you that judges don’t excuse much of anything. There have been many times when I think I would have excused people for real hardships (not like my lawyer husband won’t be able to bill hours BS). But the judges didn’t.

And I’ve seen judges have strong reactions to games playing. In one trial, there was a woman who said everything to get out of jury duty. She got excused but the judge set it up so that she was recalled once a week for the entire months of November and December. I also saw a judge require 20’people who had excuses show up in court and say their excuses out loud publicly. Then he places each one on a six month recall for a couple of years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just served last month and I will share what I observed.

Women who said they were nursing were excused.

Women who simply said they couldn't serve b/c they were the primary childcare parent were lectured by the judge about civic duty and asked over and over "and so there is no one else who can watch your children?" And also questioned on why the other parent couldn't step up to parent.

Perhaps it was just a picky judge, but yeah, if you can swing it, say you're nursing.

My husband bills by the hour. If he has to not work because I am at jury duty he loses a lot of money. It’s not a reasonable ask. Like a pp said, I’ll go when my kids can watch themselves. Thankfully I’m in VA which seems more lenient. My husband is a lawyer so he never gets called.

Then be takes a portion of that money and hires childcare.

It's nice to be rich enough to have choices.

Why should I have to pay more than I make as a juror? No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just served last month and I will share what I observed.

Women who said they were nursing were excused.

Women who simply said they couldn't serve b/c they were the primary childcare parent were lectured by the judge about civic duty and asked over and over "and so there is no one else who can watch your children?" And also questioned on why the other parent couldn't step up to parent.

Perhaps it was just a picky judge, but yeah, if you can swing it, say you're nursing.

My husband bills by the hour. If he has to not work because I am at jury duty he loses a lot of money. It’s not a reasonable ask. Like a pp said, I’ll go when my kids can watch themselves. Thankfully I’m in VA which seems more lenient. My husband is a lawyer so he never gets called.

Then be takes a portion of that money and hires childcare.

It's nice to be rich enough to have choices.

You aren't he's paying for childcare so he can work. He's the one choosing not to take off work. You don't have a choice.

Why should I have to pay more than I make as a juror? No thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do you really have no babysitter you could ask? What would you do if you needed to go to a medical appointment? If you explain during voir dire that you are the primary childcare provider they should excuse you.

You get $50 for jury duty. It costs much more for a babysitter. It's not a fair ask of SAMP.

Yes, we can have our nanny come for $26/hour and $39/hour for overtime...plus employer taxes. That's $325+ per day if I'm there 8 am - 5 pm plus commuting time, not to mention paying for parking/Uber because I don't feel safe walking to/riding the metro in the morning anymore. I checked, and they do have onsite provided childcare for children 2.5 and up who are potty trained, but we wouldn't be qualified for that. I also don't have anyone to drive my son to school and pick him up, though I could probably burden another parent to help in a pinch.

I understand that jury service isn't convenient for anyone; I just didn't realize that it is extra difficult as a stay at home parent.

You have a regular nanny. Not comparable. We have never used child care or a babysitter. You are clearly pretty comfortable. I quit as with a masters degree my entire income would have gone to day care for one.

If you're a normal middle class SAHP you make friends with other normal middle class SAHP's and sometimes trade to watch each other kids. It's just these people who think they are too good to do that, and prefer to pay through the nose for babysitting, but then refuse to pay for babysitting for their civic duty who think they should get out of it.

If you're not able to have your husband take off for urgent things, can't afford a babysitter, and have no friends, then you probably need to fix your life because you're very close to a disaster.

No, I don’t trade child care and I’d only ask in an emergency which has only been a few times for ER trip or someone dying. We are not close to disaster and fine financially but we will not throw away hundreds a day for child care.

When I worked I did a job that was part of civic duty. I’ve done more than my fair share but the government choose to not pay me enough to cover child care.

And, now I don’t go back due to health issues. No way if I don’t work for income due to health issues will I go serve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I just served last month and I will share what I observed.

Women who said they were nursing were excused.

Women who simply said they couldn't serve b/c they were the primary childcare parent were lectured by the judge about civic duty and asked over and over "and so there is no one else who can watch your children?" And also questioned on why the other parent couldn't step up to parent.

Perhaps it was just a picky judge, but yeah, if you can swing it, say you're nursing.

My husband bills by the hour. If he has to not work because I am at jury duty he loses a lot of money. It’s not a reasonable ask. Like a pp said, I’ll go when my kids can watch themselves. Thankfully I’m in VA which seems more lenient. My husband is a lawyer so he never gets called.

Everyone loses money to serve. That seems like a very non-legitimate excuse...my husband would lose more money than the average person because he is a high paid attorney!

The difference is you can afford to pay for child care.

I was mocking the PP who said it was not a reasonable ask as her husband would lose a lot of money.

Even if that poster does not work they probably have child care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our country just doesn't know what to do with parents. It is such an unfriendly country for parenting.

You are one overly privileged nutjob. Holy crap.

NP and WTAF is wrong with you, psycho? Let me guess: "childfree" millennial who considers yourself "progressive." Yeah, this country does suck at supporting parents and families, as anyone with a brain can figure out. Ends up producing a bunch of numbskull useless adults like you.

[Anonymous]

Kind of funny because I’m a fed. I’d love to serve. I’m in a legal field but just in a solicitor role. I’m tossed out every single year. I have a wonderful nanny and no objections to serving. I’ve been to jury duty 9x an have never served.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our country just doesn't know what to do with parents. It is such an unfriendly country for parenting.

You are one overly privileged nutjob. Holy crap.

NP and WTAF is wrong with you, psycho? Let me guess: "childfree" millennial who considers yourself "progressive." Yeah, this country does suck at supporting parents and families, as anyone with a brain can figure out. Ends up producing a bunch of numbskull useless adults like you.

Thank you, PP is psychotic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kind of funny because I’m a fed. I’d love to serve. I’m in a legal field but just in a solicitor role. I’m tossed out every single year. I have a wonderful nanny and no objections to serving. I’ve been to jury duty 9x an have never served.

When I worked, I had no problem serving especially before kids as it was a nice break from work.

[Anonymous]

Just don’t show up. Nothing will happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Traumatized? Lol

Well, yeah, I think it would be really traumatic. She’s never been in the care of anyone other than me, my husband, or our former nanny.

That’s not what “traumatized” means.

Nobody wants to do jury duty. Nobody wants to give up pay if they’re a contractor or have to use childcare. It’s the law. Suck it up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our country just doesn't know what to do with parents. It is such an unfriendly country for parenting.

Sorry, but no. You don’t get to skip out of jury duty, a legal responsibility as a citizen, because you chose to have children. Childless and retired people are not going to take your turns. Figure it out, just like all the other parents before you did.