Or: how I spent my Friday morning.
On Wednesday I got this mail notice from the Superior Court, County of Santa Clara Office of the Jury Commissioner:
(#1) with some of my information deleted
This morning I went to the website, registered by providing my personal information and went to the Request for Hardship Excusal page, where I completed this section:
(#2) Where I made the crucial error: I was willing to get a hardship excusal just for this occasion, so I submitted this form
Immediately, a response:
Your Request for Hardship Excusal was successfully submitted on 09/20/24.
And then, almost immediately after that:
You are checking too early. To receive your instructions for your assigned week, you will need to return to this web page the weekend (Saturday or Sunday) prior to 10/14/2024.
Oh, crap.
Well, I can’t wait till the last minute to submit my request, because it might be denied. So I called the phone number in #1 to request an excusal. But the automated response said that excusals couldn’t be supplied by phone, only on the website, in writing (by US mail), or in person; and there seemed to be no way to talk to an actual human being about the matter.
So now I must appeal to my family doctor, using Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s messaging system, on which I’ll get an answer in about 3 business days (since this isn’t any kind of emergency). I’m not sure which of my many disabilities he’ll use in his letter, but having to use a walker to get around, being unable to climb stairs, and needing to urinate every 20 or 30 minutes should certainly make me a bad choice as a juror. (I realize that some people in their 80s would make excellent jurors, and I believe that I would be a good assessor of evidence provided in a court, but physically I’m not up to it; it would be a nightmare.)
But now on to the damnable PAMF messaging system. Think good thoughts on my behalf.
September 20, 2024 at 1:24 pm |
It’s the peeing that got me removed, forever, from the “jury pool”. Doctor’s letter did the trick.
September 20, 2024 at 1:37 pm |
A further note: the juror information form asks for your mobile phone number (assuming, as everyone does these days, that I have a mobile phone). I just gave my landline number and said (when asked) I couldn’t get messages on it. And just left the “provider’s name” question blank — which the system accepted.
September 20, 2024 at 1:37 pm |
In Arizona you can be automatically excused if you are 75 years or older. Fortunately, that is not a mandatory excuse, but it’s available to anyone of that age who doesn’t want to (or can’t) serve without needing any further paperwork, since they already know one’s birth date. One must merely tick the appropriate box on the form (online or paper).
September 20, 2024 at 1:42 pm |
Sounds like a good system.
September 21, 2024 at 6:55 am |
Similarly in Massachusetts, except the triggering age is 70. I used this feature the last time I was called.
September 20, 2024 at 2:17 pm |
Just to note that I don’t think I’ve ever used the noun excusal before. From NOAD:
September 20, 2024 at 2:28 pm |
From Gadi Niram on Facebook: