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(Photo by Octavio Jones/TAS23/Getty Images for for TAS Rights Management)
In eras of hyperpartisanship, jury duty becomes one of the few spaces of sustained civic engagement. Trudging down to the local courthouse — a sort of municipal holy ground — to sit in a crowded room of your extended neighbors offers a unique slice of Americana increasingly missing in an online and isolating world.
It’s a societal obligation, a civic duty, a secular devotional — call it what you will — but however important jury duty is to the overarching justice system, it’s still fundamentally… annoying.
Nobody likes being called out of the blue and dragged into some trial that’s going to cruelly upend your summer. That said, not all jury service is created the same. A lengthy, obnoxious probate battle with jilted in-laws kicking off in June and running into August becomes a death by a thousand cuts. On the other hand, in a criminal case, where the burden of proof is much higher, the lack of physical evidence can allow the jury to dispense with the charges outright.
Or you could be one of the lucky ones and get some dumb tort case about stealing a dog and dying it key lime green.
But this potential juror felt the need to confess to the lawyers and the judge not to wreck their plans.
That sucks. Never in her wildest dreams would they have thought an out-of-state vacation would get mucked up by jury duty. Some will sneer that these are champagne problems, but, long story short, this juror sunk real money into this.
Seasoned practitioners know all too well that if jury duty strikes when you’ve locked in prior plans, it’s not the end of the world. You need to calm down and make sure the jurisdiction doesn’t have an established procedure for delaying jury service. Then just go ahead and ask! There’s no need to be cryptic or Machiavellian about it — most places afford a potential juror at least one free deferral.
You’re not out of the woods yet — the court still has to approve it, but you’ve got a chance. Courthouses generally don’t care when a potential juror shows up as long as they can guarantee that the juror will show up. Can’t make June? Move it back to December.
However, if you’ve already sought one deferral, you’re on your own, kid.
Hopefully this article leaves worried potential jurors — whether Swifties or just regular folks with non-refundable plans — a little better off. We only have this one overheard remark so we don’t know if the juror made the concert or landed in prison so unfortunately we can’t offer much… closure.
Joe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.
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