Is jury summons mandatory?

Question

I got a letter from the city for jury summons. Is that mandatory?

Answer 1

yep, unless you want to get arrested.

Answer 2

Yes it is. As far as I am concerned, it is an honor to serve. You will learn a lot. You will meet new people and see how the justice system works. Don't try and get out of it, you will not make it. Just do what they ask and be happy that you were picked. After you serve, they will not call on you to serve for another 3 years.

Answer 3

I you don't follow the instructions on the summons you will be arrested, the summons is a court order. You will be held in contempt

Answer 4

The short answer is yes.

However, if you have a good reason you can be excused, generally by writing to the clerk of court.  Good reasons are getting married, health, sick child, financial hardship.  I was excused once because at the time my business couldn't survive my absence.

You usually have to go down to the courthouse and wait all day until they call your name.  I've been three times, got my name called once.

The defense and prosecuting attorneys will ask you a bunch of questions to see if you are a suitable juror (read predisposed to believe their side of things)

Jury duty is educational.  One thing you will discover is that court proceedings are as dry and uninteresting a thing there is.  It is nothing like on TV.  The other is that the lawyers are only marginally less slimy than the defendants.  

The only time I got in front of the lawyers, the prosecuting attorney devoted an inordinate amount of time querying each of as to whether or not we owned firearms.  None of us who indicated that we owned firearms got selected.  I have two theories on that.

One is that they were trying the guy on a weapons charge and the last thing they wanted was a jury full of people that take seriously their second amendment rights.

The other was my own gut feeling that prosecutor was so far to the left she makes Obama look like a card carrying member of the John Birch Society.  And that she mistook gun owners to be sympathetic to criminals.  The reality is that most of us have those guns to shoot criminals if need be.  So if that was her belief it was mistaken.  After watching the O.J. Simpson trial, I realized that intelligence is not a prerequisite to be a prosecutor.

Anyways, yes it is mandatory, but it is what you make it.

Answer 5

Yes. If you are called for jury duty, then you have to go.

Answer 6

Yes