My dad called me today and told me an official letter for me from the State of New Jersey arrived at his house today.
Even though I never lived at my dad’s house, while I was in the Coast Guard I was required to have a domicile in a state, so I used his address. My driver’s license was his address.
That all changed when I retired and became a resident of South Dakota. Everything I have is tied to my SD address, even if it is just a mailbox in Sioux Falls.
The letter was for me to serve on Jury Duty in September, and I had to report for duty on 10 September 2013 or a warrant would be issued for my arrest. Me? Jail?
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I’ve always wanted to serve on a jury, I would find it very interesting. I’ve spent many days in local, state, federal and military courts bringing criminals to justice. But I never had the chance to participate in finding of guilt or innocence by serving on a jury.
What a bummer.
Fortunately, since I’m no longer an NJ resident (even though all paperwork was submitted notifying the state that I moved) there were instructions on how to remove myself from jury duty. A phone call, some pleasant help from a lady on using a special website, and in no time, I was a free man, my name purged forever from the roles of NJ jurors.
Now I wonder what I’ll ever do if I’m called for Jury Duty in South Dakota. With my luck, it will be in January…
Thanks for visiting and feel free to leave a comment.
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Ken was called for jury duty when we were in Ocala last year, an email to the effect was sent and he was excused. I was called many years ago and was a juror in a 2 week trial. It was very, very interesting, but I wouldn't want to do it again. Very Stressful.
ReplyDeleteWe were called to jury duty on two occasions; the first time within weeks of each other. That conflicted with our travel plans for Peru, so we were excused. The second time, Mui actually got as far as the courtroom, but a mistrial was declared and he was back out within hours.
ReplyDeleteI was called a couple of times when we lived in MT but both cases were settled before court. Jim actually got to serve as jury foreman one time and had a great time. (He loves to be the boss.)But I do know of a creepy prison you could spend your time in.
ReplyDeleteI've been on jury duty several times. The cases were interesting and so were the other folks on the jury as well. It was interesting how they looked at things differently than I did. Of course, they were wrong and I was right. Of course.
ReplyDeleteWe both just got Jury summons this week but now we have moved to Florida so we have to get ourselves purged out of the system.
ReplyDeleteOr February!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd have to ask for a postponement if it were Jan or Feb :) Of course, we know how you like to travel vast distances. You could probably get there and back between snowflakes!
ReplyDeleteOnly got called for Jury Duty once, in PA. Didn't get picked, was off the hook for awhile. Not sure I'd want to travel to SD to serve, but you never know :)
ReplyDeleteI've never been called for Jury Duty but I can think of a few juries lately that I'd like to 'hang'!
ReplyDeleteGood thing you got out of that NJ jury thing as you wouldn't be wanting to find a mob boss guilty.
I have been called for jury duty twice..once the trial was cancelled and the second time I was excused because of travel plans..
ReplyDeleteglad you aren't going to jail but you know someone would have mailed you a 'cake with a file in it' so you could escape!
That sure is military life. My official residence while in USCG was New York. Never did get called for jury duty, but when I was stationed in the south, I got pulled over often, with the local cops wondering why a Yankee was driving on their streets all the time:)
ReplyDeleteI was called once for jury duty, but was running my own restaurant, and would have had to close my business to go so I was excused, good thing.
ReplyDeleteFunny... I have had several notices for Jury Duty since full-timing, and I have just ignored them all. I wonder if there is a Warrant out for my arrest!
ReplyDeleteWhew, glad you aren't going to jail. But I do think being on a jury would be interesting. I guess if they call me in Florida I'll have to hope it isn't in August. And of course hope it isn't a long trial and I over stay my two weeks in the closest state park. :-)
ReplyDeleteIf you're called to jury duty in SD and you're a full-timer, you can call the phone # on the phone and they'll give you instructions on how to handle it.
ReplyDeleteYou will be excused if you're out of state at the time.
Jim
I was called back in the winter of 2010...was excused as we had a recent death in the family and I didn't think I could be partial..thankfully I was off the hook it was come to find out later a murder/kidnapping trial I would have been sequestered forever...
ReplyDeleteI know it's a civic responsibility, but I've only been called once to a "cattle call" and only had to go to the first cut.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I would ever want to serve especially if it was a criminal case involving something serious.
When we changed our residence to Arizona, we both immediately were called to jury duty. In the middle of the summer. We postponed to winter (luckily they seem to be used to that.) But I have yet to actually serve and think I would find it interesting. Unfortunately, Diana says it's not as interesting as the lawyer books we read.
ReplyDelete