I've had a jury summons, but I can't afford to miss two weeks of my university course

Matt

Yes, fill out the back and mail it in for an exemption.

Trevor h

Yes definitely - my daughter got one when she was at Uni.

You won't get out of the Summons completely - just tell them when you can do it - sometime in the Summer - and they will call you then instead.

old know all

It's not an excuse, but it is grounds for deferral. Ask if you can serve during the summer break.

OriginalBubble

Yes, I think that is a very reasonable excuse!
Better than a lot of people have

P.K.

yes, usually education trumps a jury summons

Doethineb

It would help to get an official letter from your tutor stating that they insist on your attending class and setting out the dates. There are always far too many people randomly selected as jurors on any occasion and a lot of them find that they are turned away. My son was called recently and by the time he had explained about medical appointments and other vital calls on his time, they felt that it was really not convenient to have him sitting on a jury.

luludoodie

Yes - but usually only for a deferment.
Contact the Jury Office and explain the situation, I think University would be acceptable.
I was going for an important hospital test - they agreed to defer me for a few weeks!

I am glad I had the jury experience. You realise the difficulty of telling who is lying and the power you have in your hands.
One of mine was an indecent assault - we had to chose between destroying the girls reputation or helping put the guy away for a long time. It didn't help they were both untrustworthy witnesses!

Emma T

Yes it is - the same thing happened to me. I was called for the last 2 weeks of the second term of my first year - I would not have been able to catch up and prepare for the exams. It's a shame really, as I would have liked to have gone, but could not have put my degree at risk for it.

Just fill in the form explaining why you cannot serve at this time, they will send you back a letter confirming that you don't have to go.

markysparky

Yes it is.

I live on long island ny, and when I reported to jury duty, they were dismissing all students regardless.

Bardic

More than likely. You need to reply to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau within 7 days and ask to be â€˜deferredâ€™ (so that you can serve at a later date) or â€˜excusedâ€™ from jury service altogether.

Sounds like a very valid reason to me, anyway.

wizjp

for some judges.

All you can do is ask

HouAnswerGuy

Not sure where you are at but here in Texas being a full time student is one of the requirements that can/will get you excused from jury duty if you choose,.

Alice

Yes - I got out of jury duty in the UK on that premise as well. I was called up in 2002, but it was going to be right at the end of my exams, so just wasn't practical. There was no way I was going to resit an entire year for that reason!

I wrote a letter to the courts (address as per the letter they sent you), explaning the situation, and also got a note from the department confirming my course, the dates of the exams, dates of the semesters, what year I was in etc.

It's straightforward to get out of it - there's nothing to worry about - as they will take your course costs etc into consideration. If you get stuck on a long-winded case, it could be considerably more than two weeks of a course, it could be months if it is a fraud case. They don't want someone on the jury who is desperate to get out of it.

Jordan

Yes school is an excuse. Show up and tell them you are in school. You might want to bring a class schedule with you or a receipt showing you paid for classes.

thunder2sys

yes it is. make sure the judge knows.

Mr TEL

You need to write and tell them. A letter from someone in authority (i.e. your tutor or the principal of the college) included would go a long way.
There are no guarantees though.

Lily B Talus

No, we need people such as you to do theier bit for this country in return for the excellent education that you are receiving. If you don't do it we end up with unrepresentative juries full of the elderly and unemployed.

Samsooma The Madruba

Tis up to the judge

Many who do arrive in court try to escape jury ser-vice through a so-called "hardship" excuse. Standards forcourts to excuse jurors for hardship are often lax, vague, or, atworst, nonexistent. For example, Washington allows courtsto excuse jurors for "undue hardship, extreme inconvenience,public necessity, or any reason deemed sufficient by the courtfor a period of time the court deems necessary." Somestates even encourage judges to release anyone in a busi-ness or profession. For instance, Virginia allows courts toexcuse prospective jurors who allege a "particular occupa-tional inconvenience." Virtually anyone who is gainfullyemployed and wishes to avoid jury service may meet thisbroad standard.Administratively, many jurisdictions signal to theircitizens that jury service is not an important responsibility.Several state statutes authorize judges to delegate the grant-ing of excuses to court clerks or other staff. In some courts,a quick telephone call to the clerk or merely checking a box ona form with a prepaid return envelope may suffice. If thoseseeking a hardship excuse had to appear before a judge, it isdoubtful that many would risk inventing or exaggerating analleged hardship. Further easing the way to an exemption,most state statutes do not require summoned jurors to pro-vide the court with written verification of the claimed hard-ship, such as a statement from an employer, a doctor's letter,or proof of caretaker responsibilities.

GreenIYD

You have to respond to the summons, so if they call your number, you have to go.
However, you might not get chosen. The lawyers choose the jury, so if they know you're student they probably won't bother you.

When in doubt, cry. No, really, :-)

Buddha

Probably not but you can try it. You will have plenty of time to study whilst you are waiting to be called. Some people sit there for weeks and never get on a case, it happened to me.

John M

it depends on the judge, but I would say its a better excuse than most. If you have never been called before, it's quite common to spend the morning waiting for a trial and never even leave the main assembly room, and then get sent home without ever being asked to do anything.

SPUD

Daffy

yep but it depends on how serouis the summons is

DA ANSWER

When in doubt just say your racist against everybody and they will not select you.

Dominy B

What you could say is that you are a working mother and you have to do the school run?

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