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From: BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.tv
Subject: Re: [OT] Judge reams out people avoiding jury duty
Date: Wed, 21 May 2025 02:08:37 -0000 (UTC)
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On May 20, 2025 at 5:45:58 PM PDT, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com>
wrote:

>
> https://www.thespec.com/news/crime/hamilton-courtroom-fail-to-obey-jury-duty-summons/article_6719b3d0-6d16-58bc-801e-62bf15b3fed1.html

"A reasonable excuse is not, ‘I didn’t get the mail, I was out of town.'"

How is that not a reasonable excuse? Are Canadidians not allowed to engage in
travel? Are they forbidden from taking trips longer than a few days in case
the state might send them a jury summons?

As for not getting the mail, how the hell can you control that? If something
gets lost in the mail, does Canada expect you to psychically know it was sent
to you or something? I mean, if I go out the mailbox today, how do I know a
jury summons should be there but was lost at the post office?

I bet the judges who refused to accept those explanations would be the first
to scream like a stuck pig if they got dinged by a fine or penalty and were
told, "Well, we mailed the notice of violation to you. Saying you never got it
isn't an excuse."

After graduating college, my brother moved to Florida. About a year after he
moved there from Texas, he got a letter forwarded from our dad notifying him
of jury duty. Apparently they didn't update their voter rolls that well back
then because he had changed his address from Texas to Florida when he moved.
He chuckled and tossed it in the trash.

A few weeks later, he got another forwarded letter threatening him with a fine
and possible bench warrant for failing to report for jury duty. So he sent
them a certified letter letting them know he was an official resident of
Florida and obviously wasn’t available (nor even eligible) for jury duty in
Texas. He figured that would take care of it.

Nope.

Two weeks later, he got an official court summons (again forwarded by my
obviously amused father) for failure to appear. So he called the court. Once
he got the right person on the phone, he explained that he had had no
opposition to serving on a jury. In fact, he said, he would be greatly honored
to serve, as he felt it was part of being a citizen. The only problem was
transportation and lodging. He told the court clerk that he would need a
round-trip plane ticket and at a room at a decent hotel for the time he was in
town for jury selection and duty, if he was picked.

The court clerk was a bit confused as why he would need airfare to get to the
courthouse. He explained that it otherwise would take at least 2-3 days to
drive from Coral Gables to Austin and he couldn't afford to spend that much
time on the road, plus his car was really only reliable to get around a
locally and was not suited for cross-country travel.

Finally it dawned on them that his certified letter wasn't some sort of scam
to get out of jury duty. He did ask them to send him a written notice
absolving him of any legal issues pertaining to the matter and to kindly
update their records.