Family Friendly Jury Duty
Featured Guest Blogger November 11th, 2008
Thank you to Dakota Hankin, Sloan Network Graduate Research Assistant, for today’s guest blog entry.
While driving home from my internship, a fellow student told me that she had been summoned for jury duty. Initially excited for my friend, I did not even think about the repercussions on her personal life. She works part time, attends an internship for 16 hours each week, goes to school full time, and has a family. When and how could she possibly find the time to fulfill her civic obligations without causing a rift between family and work?
I came across several articles as well as a blog entry discussing work and family issues that arise while fulfilling our responsibility as citizens to provide our peers with access to a fair trial. How do we fulfill this responsibility while limiting the impact on our jobs, family obligations, and child and/or elder care responsibilities?
Each state has laws outlining the individual’s civic obligations and the special circumstance for which one might not qualify for service, such as Massachusetts Chapter 234A: Section 4: Disqualification from juror service. Most states do require that employers allow employees time off for jury duty. However, there is little emphasis on how one might fulfill their civic duty while also maintaining work and family obligations. While researching this issue, I did find a website focusing on jury duty legislation needed for breastfeeding mothers, families with special needs children, and stay at home parents. The Sloan Work and Family Network provides specific information on shift work and breastfeeding that are relevant to jury duty. You may also find information on state law and jury duty in our Bills and Statutes Database.
I am curious as to how others have dealt with jury duty and the road blocks they faced along the way. I myself have never been summoned. I hope that when I am, I have the time and flexibility to be fully present in the moment to fulfill my civic duty without worrying about life and work obligations.
I am facing this dilemma right now. I was summoned to jury duty in Arapahoe County (Colorado). I am a stay at home mom to two young children (ages 2 and 3). The court tells me I am required to leave my children in daycare so that I can report. The court pays for the daycare, but still I am furious about this. My 2-year-old has never been away from me. We tell children to beware of strangers, don’t talk to strangers, don’t take food from strangers, yet I am expected to leave my children in a facility with strangers - some of whom will have the most intimate access to my children (changing diapers, helping the older child go potty, etc.).
My husband and I chose to be a one-income family so that our children could reap the benefits of a stay-at-home parent. While the court’s requirement does not present a financial hardship, the fact that they are mandating that I put my children in daycare, and that the court has chosen the facility, strikes me as an insufferable intrusion into family life. Many states allow primary caregivers of young children to be excused from jury duty. I don’t understand why this is not the case in Colorado.