Jury Duty

I

immigrateful

Registered Users (C)
I got a notice to appear for jury duty within two and a half weeks of becoming a citizen. And this happened even though I have not yet sent my voter registration forms (I heard from other naturalized citizens that jury duty names are picked from the voter registration lists).

Anyone else had a similar experience? Just curious.

All responses are appreciated. Thanks.
 
Are employers accomodating of citizens who need to attend jury duty?
What are people's experiences regarding this? I should post in another section of the forum also - since not many participate in this section of the forum.
 
raevsky said:
They freqeantly send summons to non-citizens as well.
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But noncitizens can get out of it by showing that they are noncitizens (except maybe in New York where I've heard that GC holders can be required to serve on juries). When I was on H1B I got summoned but they retracted it once I let them know I wasn't a citizen (I had to give them a copy of my visa as proof).
 
CrossHairs said:
Are employers accomodating of citizens who need to attend jury duty?
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That is specific to each employer. Some will pay you your salary (minus what you get paid for jury duty itself), others won't pay you anything. But they are required to let you serve.
 
I received one in between interview and oath.

Since my oath was not done, I didnt care to respond to it...
 
I think the timing of that letter was just a coincidence. As pointed, and in order to reach citizens that don't register to vote they draw from multiple sources, and they indeed send letters to non-citizens that in most cases can be sent back explaining that one is not a citizen. I got such letter years ago. I have never got another letter, not even after naturalizing and registering to vote.
 
Coincidence? Hmmm the conspiracy theory sounds better in this case.

All joking aside, I just got a pre-qualification form for jury duty. It is random, because I got 3 such requests during my time in the US and before becoming a citizen.
 
pancpgc said:
Since my oath was not done, I didnt care to respond to it...
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Not responding under any circumstance (or status) is an arrestable offense in most places. You should always call them and let them know that you are not eligible to serve
 
I agree this might just be a coincidence. I too received a summons about 5-6 years back when I had recently filed my I485. Like Huracan says, it looks like they draw from multiple sources and not just voter registration lists. Maybe 1000s of non-citizens end up receiving such summons - what a waste of resources!

Thank for responding, everybody.
 
They sent invitations to everyone from DMV, SSA and state/federal/city/county benefits programs. Also they use their own database if you registered for voting. They always sent to me invitation when I change my driver license's address.
 
pancpgc said:
Since my oath was not done, I didnt care to respond to it...
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you should have responded it disqualifying yourself stating that you are not a US citizen. This way you would have avoided jury duty for longer time than not responding. You are legally bound to respond to it. If you did not respond then you may see other summon in a few months.
 
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cafeconleche said:
I got a few before. I have a question, though: Is a non-citizen ALLOWED to serve on a jury?
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Some people claim that in some parts of the country this can happen. If my memory serves me well, in New York. Anyway, if you get one of these summons forms read it very carefully for the requirement to be a citizen or not.
 
Huracan said:
Some people claim that in some parts of the country this can happen. If my memory serves me well, in New York. Anyway, if you get one of these summons forms read it very carefully for the requirement to be a citizen or not.
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Correct. This happened to an acquaintance of mine, who was a LPR at the time.
 
cafeconleche said:
I don't remember what I did with my jury summons. Uh oh.
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I highly doubt it matters. Every single jury summons I've ever received (I began receiving them as soon as I turned 18) was thrown in the garbage, as I was not a citizen. In fact, I got one a few weeks ago, but was so caught up in completing my natz process that I threw it out. Only after I took my oath I realized that I should have just sent them a copy of my GC, which would possibly have made them leave me alone for a while.
 
cafeconleche said:
I got a few before. I have a question, though: Is a non-citizen ALLOWED to serve on a jury?
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In California you do not qualify for jury duty if you are a non-citizen and a host of other reasons. Some of the other reasons - you do not have sufficient knowledge of the English language, are below 18 years of age, are not resident of the USA , are not domiciled in California, etc.

Choose your state carefully upon your return to the USA depending on whether you like or dislike jury duty :)
 
immigrateful said:
In California you do not qualify for jury duty if you are a non-citizen and a host of other reasons. Some of the other reasons - you do not have sufficient knowledge of the English language, are below 18 years of age, are not resident of the USA , are not domiciled in California, etc.

Choose your state carefully upon your return to the USA depending on whether you like or dislike jury duty :)
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Which state bothers you the least? This whole jury system is weird. I would NOT want someone like me on a jury if I were on trial.
 
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