Topic: WARNING, Rant inside...

[Centurus]

Ok, so here's the thing.  I've been on call for jury duty all this week.  I got my summons at the end of May, and registered with the automated service on June 1st, cause that day was within 5 days of receiving my summons.

This past Sunday, I call in, as instructed, and the automated service tells me I do not have to report for service on Monday, and to call back Monday after 5pm.  Monday comes, I call around 5:30, the automated service tells me I do not have to report for service Tuesday, and to call after 5pm on Tuesday.  Tuesday, I'm over in Northridge at a meeting/rehearsal for a dinner theatre thing a friend of mine is getting together.  After the meeting, I drive home, call in at 8:30pm, and the automated service tells me I do not have to report for Wednesday, and to call in Wednesday after 5pm.  Wednesday, nothing to do, so around 5:15pm I call in, and the automated service tells me I do not have to report for service Thursday, and to call back Thursday after 5pm.

Today is Thursday.  Went for rehearsal/meeting for 5 hours.  I get back, and call into the automated jury service today at roughly 6:30pm my time, and guess what the service tells me.  It tells me I have not been calling in as required, that I am in violation of my jury duty service, and that I must now await a new summons, and second summons are always on a hard set date.  And I know for a fact that this kinda stuff ends up on your record.  My mother was in law enforcement, so she knows these things.

I really f**king hate this.  I call in as required, and now I'm being told I haven't done squat!!!!  In the morning I'm calling someone and chewing someone's head off if I have to in order to get this settled, cause I can't afford to have them schedule me for any other time this summer or even this fall.  I've got too much on my plate to deal with it.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lieutenant_Q]

Something really screwy has been happening with Jury Duty lately.  In MI, the last time I was eligible for it, Jury Summons was tied into the Voter Registration rolls.  I Registered to Vote in Texas four years ago, and haven't been picked yet.  But I got a call from my father last month, saying I got picked for Jury Duty up there.  I called and had to convince them that I wasn't living up there, I thought I was going to have to fax them proof of my Texas residency, but they relented after I told them I would if I had to.  Now the question I never got around to asking, was, is it still tied into the Voter Registration rolls, and if it is... is someone voting under my name up there?

[Centurus]

Odd you should mention the voter rolls.  I was working as an inspector for a polling precinct during the California June 8 elections.  Our very first voter had his sample ballot with him, with the address of our precinct and the color of my table (there were 2 precincts there, and my mom was the inspector for the other precinct).

Anyway, he was registered to vote at our location, he called the county registrar 3 weeks before the election to verify, cause he had moved to another part of the neighborhood and wanted to make sure the county had updated their records.  The county verified his address was updated and assured him he wouldn't have any problems.

What's the problem you may ask?  He wasn't in our roster of voters, nor our street index roster.  I called the county, and they couldn't figure out why he wasn't in our rosters.  Needless to say the voter was upset, but when we got it straightened out, he was very satisfied. 

Several other people came in that day with similar problems, and the county didn't give any reason why this was happening.

In my situation now with this jury duty mess, I do not want to have to deal with it again.  The last time I had jury duty, I got my summons late cause someone on another street had gotten my summons, and the mailman at the time was a douche, unlike our current mailman/woman.  This mailman at the time, if he saw you left something on your mailbox with a post it note stating it was delivered to the wrong address, he'd take the note and stick the letter back into your mailbox.

Anyway, the last time I had jury duty, I tried to register, the service wouldn't let me stating I had not registered when required to.  A new summons was issued, but instead of being on call, I was given a set date that I had no choice but to appear on, and the worse part, it was during fall semester.  Luckily it was on a day I had no classes.

I do not want to have to go through that again, but I got a bad feeling I'm gonna have no choice.

[Javora]

Something really screwy has been happening with Jury Duty lately.  In MI, the last time I was eligible for it, Jury Summons was tied into the Voter Registration rolls.  I Registered to Vote in Texas four years ago, and haven't been picked yet.  But I got a call from my father last month, saying I got picked for Jury Duty up there.  I called and had to convince them that I wasn't living up there, I thought I was going to have to fax them proof of my Texas residency, but they relented after I told them I would if I had to.  Now the question I never got around to asking, was, is it still tied into the Voter Registration rolls, and if it is... is someone voting under my name up there?

Yes it is still tied to voter registration, but supposedly the county where you live (or lived in your case) randomly picks people out of the voter registration pool.  Then it is just a matter of time before your name is picked.  Looks like in your case it took them four years to get to your name.  But more than likely no one is voting in your name but of course you can always call the county where you used to live and ask.  Hope this helps.

[Javora]

Today is Thursday.  Went for rehearsal/meeting for 5 hours.  I get back, and call into the automated jury service today at roughly 6:30pm my time, and guess what the service tells me.  It tells me I have not been calling in as required, that I am in violation of my jury duty service, and that I must now await a new summons, and second summons are always on a hard set date.  And I know for a fact that this kinda stuff ends up on your record.  My mother was in law enforcement, so she knows these things.

I really f**king hate this.  I call in as required, and now I'm being told I haven't done squat!!!!  In the morning I'm calling someone and chewing someone's head off if I have to in order to get this settled, cause I can't afford to have them schedule me for any other time this summer or even this fall.  I've got too much on my plate to deal with it.

If you called using a cell phone, then get a copy of the cell phone logs from your phone company (on company letterhead if you can) and then take that in as proof.  Since you had to go through an automated service, the phone call more than likely lasted more than a minute.  That should prove that you did your part and that the county court need to clean up their act.  If you didn't call them with a cell phone then I would suggest that you start doing so and keep phone log records on hand.  Good luck and I hope this helps.

[Brush Wolf]

I think many areas have gone to drivers license/ ID rolls as they pick up from a broader pool. Javora, the cell phone idea is a good one however, not everyone has a cell phone and even regular phone companies should be able to provide a call listing.

The last time I came up for jury duty I was working four ten hour shifts on the afternoon shift. It was quite literally a nightmare as the automated system is completely based on working day shift. If I didn't have to report on Monday I was supposed to go to work and call after 5:30 PM. If I was supposed to report on Tuesday I was supposed to go home and get up about when I would be going to bed from my work shift, Gah! Never again unless I am able to work days during the jury period.

[Centurus]

Today is Thursday.  Went for rehearsal/meeting for 5 hours.  I get back, and call into the automated jury service today at roughly 6:30pm my time, and guess what the service tells me.  It tells me I have not been calling in as required, that I am in violation of my jury duty service, and that I must now await a new summons, and second summons are always on a hard set date.  And I know for a fact that this kinda stuff ends up on your record.  My mother was in law enforcement, so she knows these things.

I really f**king hate this.  I call in as required, and now I'm being told I haven't done squat!!!!  In the morning I'm calling someone and chewing someone's head off if I have to in order to get this settled, cause I can't afford to have them schedule me for any other time this summer or even this fall.  I've got too much on my plate to deal with it.

If you called using a cell phone, then get a copy of the cell phone logs from your phone company (on company letterhead if you can) and then take that in as proof.  Since you had to go through an automated service, the phone call more than likely lasted more than a minute.  That should prove that you did your part and that the county court need to clean up their act.  If you didn't call them with a cell phone then I would suggest that you start doing so and keep phone log records on hand.  Good luck and I hope this helps.

No, didn't use a cell phone.  Have prepaid cell phone service, so that's not an option.  However, we are trying to get hold of AT&T to get the call log, since all calls I made were from my house phone.

As for this situation, it's not good.  The supervisor I got not only insisted that their computers are accurate, but constantly kept talking when I tried to ask a question, and wouldn't let me speak at all, and when I insisted, she told me that she would have to terminate the conversation if I didn't calm down.  Even my mother was getting irritated.  My mother worked for the county for 42 years, and even she couldn't believe the way this woman was treating us.

Either way, this not gonna be good. 

[stoneyface]

why do you think i don't register to vote unless i intend to vote that election?

you need to talk to someone "in person" and explain what happened. i bet you$10 it has happened before.they should also have a backup of the inbound call log tied to each persons summons number and that would prove your calls.

been there, done that, got the tshirt.

[Centurus]

why do you think i don't register to vote unless i intend to vote that election?

you need to talk to someone "in person" and explain what happened. i bet you$10 it has happened before.they should also have a backup of the inbound call log tied to each persons summons number and that would prove your calls.

been there, done that, got the tshirt.

Their entire system is connected to the same automated computer logging service that they have.  And they keep telling me that I failed to check in.

Unfortunately, the day I registered to vote, 10 years ago, I was automatically put on the list.  Can't undo that without destroying the planet.

I'm beginning to see why so many people just burn or tear up jury notices.

[Sirgod]

when it comes to bureaucracy, I find liberal amounts of C-4 to be the best tool in dealing with it.

Stephen

[Brush Wolf]

when it comes to bureaucracy, I find liberal amounts of C-4 to be the best tool in dealing with it.

Stephen

Properly placed it is possible to put the offending bureaucrat/ bureaucracy into orbit.

[Centurus]

Yeah, I can't exactly do that for one simple reason.  I don't have C-4.  Also, if I did, I'd probably use enough to send half the planet's surface into orbit.....of the Andromedan Galaxy.  :-D

[Sirgod]

Hehe, you say that like it would be a bad thing Bro.

Stephen

[Centurus]

Hehe, you say that like it would be a bad thing Bro.

Stephen

Well, right now I'm kinda trying to see if anything can happen with a girl I know.  We're friends, but there are times here and there where I think we could maybe be more, or at least look into the possibility.  Just playing it by ear right now.  If and when it turns out we can only be friends, then I'll resume my normal insanity and plot the destruction of the planet in a comical way.  MUAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

And yes, she knows how crazy I am, and the best part, she's almost just as crazy.

[Centurus]

I just got the call logs back from AT&T.  It proves that I did, in fact, called every single day, and including the weekend before my service date, as instructed.  TAKE THAT f*ckING SUPERIOR COURT!!!

Who says you can't fight city hall!!!!

[Sirgod]

Sweet, God I wish you had someone with a vid camera for when you show that pompous ass that you did do right. I would love to see that.

Then you can get out of Jury duty if you wanted for making statements about how inept the legal system is, when they can't even keep track of their phone calls.

Stephen

[Centurus]

I do have a camcorder.  Not sure though if they'd let me past security with it. 

[Capt_Bearslayer_XC]

Did you call from a cell phone?

If so, the phone company has a record of it.  If not, your carrier should also be able to access it.

Hell, if you called from your cell, it should be on your phone right now.

[Kreeargh]

I just got the call logs back from AT&T.  It proves that I did, in fact, called every single day, and including the weekend before my service date, as instructed.  TAKE THAT f*ckING SUPERIOR COURT!!!

Who says you can't fight city hall!!!!

I hope you win this one but i dont think so, you did not show up in person to end the issue. I went throught the same thing about 7 years ago and have a record now for not showing up "in person" the first day when called. Even when i called in and it sayed its cancled for that day. Now they call me in every year select me then kick me off the jury before trial he he I WIN . To get out of it all just say which is probly the truth you dont agree with the laws written they will most likely kick you off the jury. They want to make EVERYONE a criminal so the goverment can take total controll ! Enjoy it i guess.

[Centurus]

Did you call from a cell phone?

If so, the phone company has a record of it.  If not, your carrier should also be able to access it.

Hell, if you called from your cell, it should be on your phone right now.

I called using my house phone, that's why I had to get the call logs fro AT&T.  Since it was an 800 number, they had to actually go and pull all the tapes from their systems and do the search.  Otherwise the number would have been on the regular phone bill.  But it's all cool, since the call log they sent me also came with letters from AT&T stating that the call log is official.

Just have to wait till tomorrow to sort it all out, since I didn't get the log till Saturday in the mail, and county offices aren't open on the weekends.