Jury duty is mandatory in the US unless excused for reasons such as disability, age, or caretaking responsibilities. Jurors are randomly selected and may be chosen more than once. The length of service varies, and voir dire is used to select unbiased jurors. Failure to respond to a subpoena can result in fines or imprisonment.
A juror summons is issued by a court, and a jury duty appearance is mandatory unless the prospective juror is excused. The right to a jury trial is guaranteed by the United States Constitution and all state constitutions in both civil and criminal matters. Failure to respond to the subpoena can result in a disregard of the court subpoena and possible fines or a short prison sentence.
Jurors are randomly selected from state motor vehicle departments and voter registration lists. Anyone 18 years of age or older, a US citizen, and is not a convicted felon whose civil rights have not been restored may be selected for jury duty. Because the process is completely random by law, some people may be chosen more often than others.
A prospective juror may be excused from jury duty for things like mental or physical disability or an inability to read the English language. A person responsible for the actual and necessary physical care of another person may be exempted from service if no other care arrangements are possible. Due to the importance of their work, police officers and active duty military personnel may also be excused.
In some states, persons over the age of seventy-five may be permanently barred from jury duty upon application. Requests for exclusion from jury duty can usually be made on the forms or questionnaires provided with the jury call. The telephone number of the local judging panel is included with the judging information. A person called to the oath may also request a reprieve for unavailability, but another time to serve must be chosen. In some jurisdictions, a referral may require you to appear in court.
The length of jury service varies from state to state. Some jurisdictions use a “pooling” system and the person who receives a juror summons may be “on call” for weeks or even months. Some states have a “one day one trial” rule. If a juror is not selected for a trial on the first day required for service, jury duty ends. If the juror is chosen for a trial, the jury’s duty ends when the trial ends.
Part of the jury selection includes “voir dire”. This is where the court and attorneys ask jurors about their backgrounds and whether they may have any bias regarding the type of case or the parties involved. The court and attorneys will have background information about the jury pool based on responses to questionnaires sent with the jury summons. Some jurors are exempt from serving on a particular jury because of the answers they give during voir dire. A juror disqualified from one panel may still be selected to serve on another.
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