I, very recently, was summoned for jury duty, and out of 30 people who were called in that day they let 6 of them go home–I was one of those 6.
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Today I’m going to quickly give you a couple ways that you could use to get out of jury duty without ever having to go, and a way to get out of jury duty if you don’t qualify for those and you do end up having to report in.
The easiest way to get out of jury duty is to actually qualify under one of the legitimate excuses that |
is listed on the letter you received in the mail. In Texas, for example, if you’re 70 years of age or older, have a child under 10 that you must care for, have some debilitating medical illness, etc. you are automatically excused from jury duty–you don’t even have to go in, you just check the excuse you qualify under on the paper and mail it in to them with proof (photocopy of driver’s license if you’re over 70, copy of medical forms, etc.). I’ll give you a good example that I probably could have used, but didn’t: one of the requirements to be a juror is that you ‘be of sound mind and body’, now I was diagnosed and treated for ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder–the stuff they give little kids Ritalin for) when I was in college, and I most likely could have said ‘well, I’m not capable of paying attention for a long period of time’ and then sent them the medical forms from the psychiatrist who diagnosed me, and that would have done it! 
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Now, if you don’t qualify under one of the legitimate excuses, once you report in there’s several things you can do. First of all, I wore the most obnoxious t-shirt I could find ( this one ), which might have done the job all by itself, but I believe it was something else that actually saved my ass: the prosecutor had each juror, one at a time, stand up and give their name, address, occupation, marital status, and tell whether or not they’d ever served on a jury before. I noticed that of the 6 people excused, |
3 of them were the people who said that they owned a business–I was one of those (I work from home as an online affiliate marketer). I’ve read elsewhere that if you own a business and that business would lose significant business from you not being there as a result of jury duty, that qualifies you to be excused; I suspect that is what occurred here.
If you happen to know ANYBODY involved in the case (cops, witnesses, prosecutor, defendant, defendants friends/relatives, judge, etc.) then you will almost always be immediately excused.
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If you are a police officer, paramedic, or firefighter, then you will almost always be automatically exempt (and likely won’t ever get a jury summons in the mail to begin with). If you have ANY experience with any legal-related jobs, i.e. law enforcement, attorney, |
paralegal, you dropped out of law school, whatever–this will almost ALWAYS get you excused. If you were a sheriff’s deputy for a couple of years waaaaay back in the day, like 20 years ago, TELL THEM–it will probably get you off. If you have ANY friends that are cops and you can say that they’ve talked to you about the job and how things are done (therefore you ‘know stuff’ about the law and how the system works) TELL THEM–it will probably get you off. They don’t want people who have any prior knowledge because then they can’t control precisely what you do and don’t know about the case.
Jury Nullification - i.e. the ‘Jury Veto’
This is an almost guaranteed way to get yourself excused from a jury–basically, a jury DOES have a right to find someone not guilty EVEN IF THEY BELIEVE THEY BROKE THE LAW IN QUESTION, if the jury does not agree with the law or believes that the law should not apply to this specific person in this specific case. There is a very solid legal precedent that supports this, and there’s actually been a case before the Supreme Court involving it where the court ruled that the state does NOT have to inform a jury that they have this right–in other words, you will not be told about this and they really hope you don’t know about it, because they want you to find the person guilty if you think they broke the law, even if you don’t agree with the law, think it shouldn’t be applied in their case, or believe the punishment is too harsh. Essentially, you can vote guilty/not guilty for ANY ARBITRARY REASON you choose, but they don’t want you to know this. From The Mental Floss Blog - ‘How To Get Out of Jury Duty’:
Next time you’re in the jury selection process and really want out, just inform the court that you know all about jury nullification…and you aren’t afraid to use it. A little-known facet of common law dating back to Elizabethan England, jury nullification happens when a jury hands down a “not guilty” verdict—but not because they think the defendant is innocent. Instead, they’re making a statement about the validity of the law itself. The first jury nullification happened in 1670, when William Penn (of Pennsylvania fame) and William Mead (of no fame) were charged with unlawful assembly—a crime basically created to prevent unsanctioned religious groups from getting together to worship. Clearly, both men were guilty, but the jury refused to convict them on the grounds that the law was unjust. The practice continued in America. Throughout the mid-1800s, northern juries would frequently nullify prosecutions against people who violated the Fugitive Slave Laws. And, during Prohibition, juries around the country nullified numerous alcohol control violations. Prior to the 20th century, nullification was accepted as common practice, but around the late 1800s, judges started taking a harsher view of it. In 1895, the Supreme Court even handed down a ruling saying that judges don’t have to inform juries of their right to nullify. Today, most judges take advantage of this. Many will even tell you that you legally can’t nullify a law. There’s some debate over whether that’s true or not. (At any rate, jurors can’t be punished for the verdict they return and not-guilty defendants can’t be retried—so we figure, what the heck.) Either way, most judges don’t want to deal with a juror who might pull the nullification card, so if you bring it up, you’ll likely be eliminated from the jury pool.
Also, in many states you can request a change of date and get your jury duty postponed for up to a year later; I’ve heard that the best month to ask for is December, as there is a much greater chance of trials being delayed or rescheduled due to the holidays.
Lastly, something that I had read (when I googled ‘how to get out of jury duty’ 
) which the prosecutor and judge both said once I got there that you should really remember most: IF YOU GENUINELY DON’T WANT TO BE THERE, THEN THEY WILL NOT WANT YOU ON A JURY! If you can communicate that you really don’t want to serve jury duty, they will let you go almost every time. I can’t emphasize this enough–it’s not a legitimate excuse guaranteed to get you out, but it will work the great majority of the time.
Further Reading and Additional Resources
‘How To Get Out of Jury Duty’ - at WikiHow.com
18 responses so far ↓
1 CSConrad // Mar 22, 2008 at 9:35 am
It is ridiculous to assert that jury nullification “began” with the Penn trial in 1670. Jury nullification predates Magna Charta.
Secondly, why should anyone want out of jury duty? How often do you get to see, up close and personal, how the government uses its enormous power? Or, better yet, have the ability to “just say no” to government excesses?
2 Figures! // Jul 28, 2008 at 10:38 am
Some of us need out of Jury Duty because we simply can’t afford it. I am a mother of 2 small children, I have a full time job and and it offers no Vacation or Sick pay. I received a summons for 4 days! That I don’t know about anyone else but if I miss 4 days of work my kids don’t eat!!! Now 10 years ago I was sitting at home on workmans comp and did every thing I could to get jury duty…. But no they wait till now! I guess thats our legal system for ya! Figures!
3 kico // Jul 28, 2008 at 10:40 am
question? can you be arrested for not responding to jury summons ever? i recieved about 2 juror summons b4 and nothin happened.
4 bahjuryduty // Aug 14, 2008 at 3:50 am
yes, in Calif you can be arrested, fined, and jailed for failing to respond/show up to juror summons. I believe the fine is around $1,500.
5 baby.cakes // Aug 29, 2008 at 6:47 pm
So as of today 8.29.08 I got out of doing jury duty…I was searching for a way to get out of it and they had a lot of great idea’s but I think the one that works the best is just keep ur mouth shut and only answer the questions the judge ask you ….it seemd to me that the ppl who answerd to the booklet they gave us ended up staying oh and I repeat Don’t look at the lawyers or clients LOOK AT UR NAILS LOOK AT THE Walls look every where else but the lawyers or just keep ur eye on the judge and if the lawyer happens to ask you something then answer str8 forward with out giving a long storys about make sweet and short with a yes or no answer and you’ll most deff get out of there …well that was ma story
6 Anita Ritenour // Sep 6, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Anyone who says you SHOULD quit complaining and serve on a jury because it’s your civic duty, etc, hasn’t been called to serve on a federal grand jury. I was. This is a once a week forced servitude for 6 or 12 months. For me, this involved a 170 miles one-way trip to Los Angeles and an overnight hotel stay in downtown LA. Making travel and hotel plans on a weekly basis was a pain and a huge nuisance. After serving several weeks of putting up with this, I ultimately requested to write a letter to the judge in charge asking to be excused on the basis of extreme burden of travel arrangements and the unsafeness of being in downtown LA the night before my jury met. I was granted to be permanently excused on my reasons stated.
7 » How to Get Out of Jury Duty on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity // Sep 23, 2008 at 5:32 am
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8 Anonymous // Dec 31, 2008 at 8:41 pm
The institution of the Jury is sacred. For any American to intentionally get out of it, without a due cause, should nigh be an arrestable offense. The Jury protects, defends, and exercises the people’s sovereignty over the government. Your peers have to convict you, demonstrating where the state derives it’s power to prosecute and convict in the first place. This is the sad state of America, you don’t even realize that this insulates the American people from tyranny.
9 Anonymous // Jan 23, 2009 at 8:46 am
Jury Duty? Anyone who wants to be there is a huge joke. Seriously. Go read a book. Jury Duty is for idiots and that’s who they’re looking for IDIOTS.
10 Jen // Feb 21, 2009 at 5:04 am
That’s a lie! I expressed my feelings on not wanting to be a juror, plus, how I’m in extremely college debt… like over $80, 0000 an need my job and they didn’t give a shit. Now I’m to serve as a grand juror. How the hell do I get out? I have 2 weeks and I swear I’m going to have to pay a doctor to say I’m crazy or something!
11 Anita Ritenour // Feb 27, 2009 at 11:48 am
Jen-If you have read my previous message above, you see I was able to get excused from a 1-year grand jury forced servitude in Los Angeles. Where do you live? Are you employed? They were excusing jurors from the LA courts if their employers wouldn’t pay their salary if they served. Some employers will pay but only for “x” number of days. They made those jurors show up until their employers no longer paid. You may email me privately at puliarf@comcast.net if you want further advice on dealing with a grand jury situation.
12 hang'em high // Mar 6, 2009 at 11:19 pm
I need some thoughts. I am in jury duty with a trial that may last 14 days.
The problem is that I am self employed and haven’t been working much. I have a day of work coming that I can’t miss to attend the trial. I desperately need the money. I told this to the judge, but he still put me on the Jury. I need to have this day of work. I have talked to the Judge and told him of my situation about this day of work. If they don’t work out the trial schedule, I need a plan.
What should I do seriously to make sure that I get this day of work without getting myself into trouble. Call in sick? How what should I do, say etc?
13 Wolfie // May 16, 2009 at 7:25 pm
All this civic duty stuff is a joke. Who really wants a bunch of people serving on their case who are resentful at being forced into indentured servitude to begin with, and who will be to busy thinking about how they are going to make rent, keep their clients, find child care, etc. than concentrate on the evidence anyway? I mean, I’m sorry … They can make me show up, but they can’t make me pay attention or stay awake.
14 Kyle // May 19, 2009 at 2:35 pm
To be honest, I am a bit curious to maybe spend a few days seeing what a court session is like. But as many have stressed it cant be afforded, the fact is I have to worry about paying for school in a few months (and the government isnt giving me s***) so I have to find a job, then also summer classes in a few weeks. Their is no way that $15 a day is going to cut it, you cant even get a decent lunch for that anymore!
15 Joe // May 20, 2009 at 8:50 pm
my brother got out of Jury duty by saying he was going to school out of state in which technically his living arrangements were at the school, so he got off. he never had to prove it, so that might be helpful for some of you.
16 Anonymous // May 25, 2009 at 12:57 pm
If the judges asks you questions, tell them this “I’m not good at sitting there, and making judgements.” Worked for me and it’s the truth too. ^___^
17 Anonymous // May 26, 2009 at 12:10 pm
18 Mark Stewart // Jun 29, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Had one heck of a stubborn judge today that wanted me to serve as a juror for approximately 3 week trial. He knew that I could not afford not to work for that long. And that I had a family reunion it two weeks. And he couldn’t give a rat’s ass. This is a high profile case and he is the top judge for my area. Thought he was like GOD or some thing. Well as a last resort I had to resort to saying, I am a racist that I cannot be objective and that there accuser should be tarred and feathered and that the accused was obviously innocent. This was not my first time in court and should only be used by someone who is very confident with them selves. He threatened me with contempt and that he would throw me in jail.
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