It’s the dreaded piece of mail that people received once every couple of years; the jury summons. Like death and taxes, the jury summons will be issued to everyone (in the U.S.) at some point in life. I saw the big X that meant I was on standby, called the number the night before I was supposed to serve and got an exemption-or did I?
The recorded message said that if you were the primary childcare provider to a child under 6 then you were exempt from jury duty. My heart skipped a beat, I did my happy dance and my wife proceeded to download the exception form. I found a notary who could meet us to notarize the paper and then sent it to the courts.
For a moment I thought it would be cool to have another child, if nothing else just to exempt me from jury duty for the next couple of years. The next morning the jury office called and as luck would have it our youngest child was in the middle of a meltdown.
“Yes, we received your exemption and that was fine, we just had one question”, she said as our young child was screeching like a velocoraptor.
“Do you have a part time job?” she asked.
“Why yes, I write, do some websites and work in social media, why?” I responded.
“Because if you earn any income then being the primary childcare provider does not exempt you from jury duty” she said with a smirk. I can’t confirm that she was smirking, but I really think that she was.
Agh. I’m not trying to get out of jury duty. However, how does earning money in a part time job cancel out the exemption that you get from being the primary childcare provider? If anything that should give me more credit because I’m working during the day-and then at night and the weekends. Plus, my part time job doesn’t ensure an easy time finding child care during the day that I’ll be serving on the jury.
Grrrrr. My jury duty has been confirmed and rescheduled for late November.
If you are the primary childcare provider for a child 6 or under and do not earn any income, then your jury service is probably exempted. I’m not an expert in where you live, but if that describes you and you received the summons in the mail, call the number now to check into your status.
Facebook
Twitter
Flickr
GooglePlus
Youtube
Wow, why punish those who work from home part time while they watch their children. This doesn’t make any sense.
I wish mine only came every few years. Since moving to GA in 2001 I’ve been at least every year and only once actually saw the inside of a courtroom. Apparently in Fulton county you can get called once every 18 months in EACH court system (there are several).
Oh and once I was sick with the flu and vomited in the bathroom and they still wouldn’t release me until 3.
That’s a total bummer!!! I have to admit….my 7 mile move from Fulton to Forsyth is mighty nice since now I don’t have to trek downtown for Jury Duty. The whole income thing is RIDICULOUS!