Summoned for Jury Duty - New SAHM

[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.

OP previously had childcare. She is not indigent. Try again.

Also, good news! Childcare at the court may be provided. See you there.

[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.

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

That’s what everyone else with kids has to do. Who mistakenly told you that you were special?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

You can skip out on jury duty if you want, nothing will happen. Just throw out the jury summons and no one will be the wiser. Don’t be a sucker.

[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.

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.

That’s what everyone else with kids has to do. Who mistakenly told you that you were special?

That's fine. I bring my kids with me, so they'd just come with me to jury duty. Problem solved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

OP previously had childcare. She is not indigent. Try again.

Also, good news! Childcare at the court may be provided. See you there.

If she had it when she worked and no longer has it, she doesn't have child care. And, that child care is not for jury duty.

https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/cct/kids-spot.html

"KIDS SPOT CANNOT ACCEPT:

Children whose parents are serving on Jury Duty
Children whose parents have business outside the Circuit Court, for instance, at District Court across the street
Children of courthouse staff"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

When I worked, I loved doing it. Got me out of my job... nice break. Could sit there and catch up on paperwork.

[Anonymous]

In NYC primary caregivers are exempt from service.

[Anonymous]

If it's DC op may be able to defer until her kid is 2.5 and can do the free child care at the court https://www.dccourts.gov/jurors/arranging-child-care

[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.

I mean, part of your dilemma is that your husband cannot/will not pick up any slack for you and your family. I get it bc I am also a SAHM with a husband with an inflexible job. But you having to pay for the nanny and ask another parent to pick up your kid from preschool is 100 percent an extra issue because your husband can’t or won’t pitch in for a day.

Have your husband identify a week when he can take off in advance, and sign up for that week. Or understand that you're paying for childcare so your husband can work. Which is what most working parents do.

Working parents get a paycheck. Op won’t be getting a paycheck— for many people, paying for temporary childcare (which is more expensive than regular consistent childcare) is not possible financially.

[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.

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.

You can skip out on jury duty if you want, nothing will happen. Just throw out the jury summons and no one will be the wiser. Don’t be a sucker.

The judge can issue a bench warrant and hold you in contempt as I already do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You call them and say you are a SAHM with young kids and no child care. Ask if you can bring the kids. They will probably excuse you. They did when I got a summons when my child was a few months old. No big deal.

+1

This.
When my children were young, I would simply state this fact on the reply card & send it back.

I never heard from them again + I was never arrested for ignoring the summons. 🙊

[Anonymous]

I still get out of it saying I’m the primary caregiver. My youngest is 12. Hasn’t ever been a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

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.

You can skip out on jury duty if you want, nothing will happen. Just throw out the jury summons and no one will be the wiser. Don’t be a sucker.

The judge can issue a bench warrant and hold you in contempt as I already do.

That never happens for simple no-show jurors.

[Anonymous]

If you were charged with a crime who would want on the jury?

[Anonymous]

OP here again. Thanks to some of you for the good advice and insights. I'm going to take my chances and hope that I'm in and out of there in one day. Former nanny is available to baby-sit, my husband can drop my son off at school early, and a classmate's parent can pick him up. I bought a refundable plane ticket for my MIL to come in if needed for an extended period of time.

I'm still in disbelief that I was summoned on my last day of work, when I quit (after carefully weighing the financial sacrifice) to make our lives less stressful. Yes, I realize we are still very fortunate but appreciate the empathy from those who have been in my shoes. Sometimes you have to laugh when stuff like this happens.