Called for jury duty on exam day

[maelia8]

I've been called up for jury duty on the day of my midterm this week, and I'm not sure what to do. I tried to file for postponement online, but the system wouldn't let me and said I wasn't qualified.

 

I need to call the courthouse to report the night before, and i emailed the professor to make them aware of the situation, but i was wondering if anybody has any experience with this/knows if asking not to participate due to an exam is valid/knows about university policies on this.

 

Thanks for any advice!

[.letmeinplz//]

I would think that University exams are valid excuses to not serve (I know Yahoo answers isn't the greatest source but apparently some people have seen students get out due to exams), your professor probably knows more though (I assume you aren't their first student to be summoned). 

 

Worst case you have to appear, just wear a shirt with "I <3 Jury Nullification" on the front of it. They should dismiss you shortly.

Edited March 17, 2015 by <ian>

[maelia8]

I'm going to try calling the courthouse hotline and getting ahold of an actual person to tell them about the exam and see if I can get it deferred later today. 

 

The problem with showing up and getting dismissed is that it takes me so long to get to the courthouse and go through the admissions procedures and get back to the university (a couple of hours at least)  that I'll miss my exam anyway

[ChuckCL]

Worst case you have to appear, just wear a shirt with "I <3 Jury Nullification" on the front of it. They should dismiss you shortly.

 

Gold star A+ for jury nullification reference. 

[TakeruK]

I thought that students are able to postpone jury summons until the end of the semester / next break period? Maybe getting a hold of an actual person will let you postpone and/or tell you why (or what info is missing) for your postponement request.

 

My experience is only in Canada, but while it looked on paper like I would have to go to the courthouse, a simple phone call got me dismissed from the summons right away. The conversation was pretty much "Oh you're a student? Okay you're dismissed. Bye!" (I know the two countries are different but just pointing out a phone call with a real person can result in a different answer).

[rising_star]

I've always been able to postpone due to school. You probably need to talk to an actual person to get information on how to do so.

[shadowclaw]

I don't know the exact procedure, but you should be able to get an exemption/deferment/whatever from serving because you're a student. However, they don't actually have to exempt you if they don't want to. They probably will, though. I know one of the professors in my department couldn't get out of it even though she was teaching several courses and finding someone to cover was a massive pain. Then again, our lab supervisor told them that it would be too much of a burden on the department if she was gone for jury duty, and they let her slide.

[Horb]

I've been called twice. Each time I was given one request to move it that was automatically granted (it says so on the jury website) and additional requests are subject to approval. Did you already make an initial request? Unless they changed it, you should be able to at least get that. 

[juilletmercredi]

Okay, so sometimes you can get your jury duty postponed because you are a student. I lived in New York for grad school; some of my friends were successful and others were not. (I myself did serve jury duty - two days after I defended my proposal - but that consisted of waiting around the courthouse for 3 hours and then getting dismissed because there were no cases.)

 

But the other alternative is to work with your department/class instead of the government. Trying to get things done quickly with the government is often like trying to run through molasses. But this could be resolved quickly by simply talking to your professor, explaining that you got called for jury duty this week and although you are trying to postpone it, you've already been denied. Then simply ask if you can take the midterm later. Most graduate programs are pretty flexible with this kind of stuff. (I once missed an exam because I overslept, and was allowed to retake.)

[SublimePZ]

I remember my roommate in undergrad got called for jury duty in California (Bay Area) and was able to get out of it by calling them + emailing proof of him being a student. Mind you, this was undergrad, but it should still work.

 

Worst case you have to appear, just wear a shirt with "I <3 Jury Nullification" on the front of it. They should dismiss you shortly.

 

Or this.

[maelia8]

Update: I ended up calling the hotline and getting a first (automated) deferment, but if it happens again I think I will have to talk to a real person if there's a serious time conflict. They should be summoning me again sometime in September, so we'll see how it goes then.

[educdoc]

I've been called a couple of years ago and I completely forgot about it. I found the invitation when cleaning my desk, approx. a week after the date. Nothing happened, thankfully. Idk to this day what the repercussions might be. Hope not to find out.