Question about jury duty

I received a summons for jury duty for Monday. I am to call tomorrow to see if I even have to show up. I really wouldn't mind going because I have never been on a jury selection or jury duty so I would just like to see what it's about. However, I am in the process of getting a note from my GI just in case. Right now I am doing ok'ish with my Uc but we all know how unpredictable Uc is. If I am picked for the jury, I don't know when the trial will be and who's to say that my Uc will even be behaving at that time.

How many of you have been in remission or semi-remission and served a jury summons? Should I even try to get out of it? Go for it? Of course, I don't even know if they will pick me.

I once read an article that said it's more expensive and burdensome for the local districts to enforce jury duty than it is to just ignore no-shows. I am NOT advising you to ignore the summons- in fact, what I'm about to say is all hypothetical. Over the last few years, I'm sure I may or may not have received at least 8-9 summons, most from local courts, but at least 2 from district court. I "may" have ignored all of them, and never called in to check for the ones where you can check the night before. Never had a problem.

All hypothetical of course. And realize that didn't answer your question :)

LOL Texasmax! I'm not sure I can get away with that. I live in a small township and this is a local court - in fact it's only two blocks away from my house. So I think I will play it safe and do it the legal way ;)

You know Sherbear, that is what my MIL said. It's a long drawn out day with nothing but waiting, waiting and more waiting. But she did say that the local courts were faster than federal and she has been called so many times, that the judge would groan when they seen her! Yeah, she's a handful! lol

I can't speak to the question of performing jury service during a flare, however, I do want to put in my two cents on jury service in general.

This is the most direct way that we, as citizens, can participate in government. Voting is practically meaningless in the micro context, unless the vote you cast breaks a tie. But if you refuse to convict someone who has been charged with a crime on flimsy evidence, rather than going with the prosecution because of the weight of their authority, you are sending a message to the DA (who is in an elected post and therefore requires a strong win record to be re-elected) to stop bringing the wrong people to the courtroom. This is a major issue in all cities across the country.

In addition, I always stop to think what it would be like for me if I were charged with a crime, but all the intelligent people in the jury pool used their intelligence to get out of service. I have been on several panels and served on a criminal trial once, and I have to tell you, I am *really* glad I was seated on that jury, because the jurors didn't understand an instruction from the judge about the testimony of a witness who was not credible. They thought that we were supposed to assume that everything she said was a lie. That's not the case. We were supposed to ignore everything she said, since we had determined that she was a liar. If I hadn't been in there to make that correction, the defendant would have been wrongly convicted. I feel like that is a really important public service and one that I would be glad to make any day.

The way I feel now (in remission), I would not hesitate to go. I've only received a notice once and I called just to give them my updated address; once they realized I had moved I was eliminated from that pool because I was no longer in the relevant district. Anyway, I have an interest in serving on a jury and only ever worried about it due to work constraints and now that I'm not working I wouldn't mind doing it.

I am digressing, little of that actually answers your question! Yes I would go, but I am fully in remission and don't have any concerns about waiting for breaks to use the bathroom. If in the meantime I developed a flare? I would phone and explain. There must be provisions for people who are in car accidents or develop an illness right before the trial began or even during the trial.

I have attended every call for jury duty both pre and post UC. There are enough courtroom breaks in the day for those who are not actively flaring as for those with higher frequency (jpouch).

Sue

And that's why every jury has alternates, Sherry. In the event an active juror gets sick, there is one to fill in.

Sue

In my early yrs with UC I got a summons to jury service in federal court, where trials can be complex & drag on for months-- so I asked my doctor to support a permanent excuse from it. However, I have served in the county court system both pre-UC & afterward. A huge amount of time there is spent waiting for something to happen, as other members have mentioned. To survive a day there, pack up healthy snacks, light reading material, bottled water & whatever med you need; then check out the rest room situation early on-- so you know where to head if you end up waiting in the jury pool quarters for hours. Once you get assigned to a case, there will likely be a separate rest room that the jury panel is assigned to use-- because you are supposed to stay together near the courtroom when not hearing testimony, unless the judge dismisses you early to return home. Serving can be interesting or tiresome, depending on the cases being heard, but, as Janey said, it really is a duty that a citizen performs to uphold our representative government-- so it definitely is worthwhile to participate if you can. / Old Hat (30 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Been called to jury duty twice since my colon cancer/resection. I've had my doctor write letters both times, excusing me from it. One time the jury foreman/manager personally called me to verify the letter was accurate and I didn't sugarcoat how many times a day I run to the bathroom. She said and I quote - oh you poor thing, you certainly need to be excused, I don't want to worry about you needing a bathroom and not listening to testimonies, etc.

Last time I just said - hey I poop 20 times a day.

That's all it takes for them to believe me but the medical letter backs me up too.

It's odd though, now that I have this problem, jury duty seems to find me. Before colon cancer? I was never called to jury duty!

I was picked so I went into the box and began getting quizzed by the DA.

I said the right things to the DA and was out of there within 10 minutes. Easy to do.

1) Opposing council is also my Attorney
2) Yes I have friends in law enforcement and they seem to have become very biased and jaded
3) I think the justice system lacks justice and should be named something else.

Not the place I wanted to be when I had urgency issues.

Sherry,

Not necessarily. You will go through the process of being questioned by both the defense and prosecuting attorneys. They can excuse you for no particular reason. It's kind of hard to explain without having been there. Jury duty is something we should all be lucky to participate in. It can be an inconvenience, that's for sure, but we are lucky we have a system that allows our peers to make judgments.

Sue

I was summoned last year for a morning session, and I just wrote a note saying that I couldn't show up to the morning session b/c of a health condition that is most active in the morning and I could get a note from my doctor if they would like and that I would be happy to do jury duty later on in the day. I never heard back from them, so I guess it was okay!