Jury Duty – NJ Fails Again

I returned from some travel the other day to find this in the mailbox. It’s an unwelcome notice, if what I hear from many people is any indication. But this one brought some different feelings.

Richard is my Dad. He passed almost two years ago.

One would think that the various state and public records of Richard’s passing would have prevented the generation of this notice, but no – it’s a fail. To underscore the failure, I recall that Richard was summoned to Jury Duty some years back. I handled the notice because he was unable to read it for himself – stroke damage had robbed him of that ability.

On his behalf I had requested – and and was subsequently granted – an excuse. I cited reasons including health and ability as well as age, which alone would have sufficed (see the NJ Judiciary FAQ). Age only goes backward in the movies, and so I figured Richard would no longer be troubled by Jury Duty.

I was wrong.

I’m thinking that I’m going to fill out the form and return it, requesting an excuse on account of, well, death. Perhaps they’ll get the message.

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2 thoughts on “Jury Duty – NJ Fails Again”

  1. Interesting suggestion, and I may just take that route.

    I bought quite a few certified DC copies because I was advised that various processes and filings would consume them. But I found that in most cases it was enough to simply show it. The appropriate checkbox would then be checked off while I retained the DC. The copies were pricey. I may just as well use one.

    Do you suppose that the Powers That Be could use this blog entry to hold ME in contempt?

  2. I just got one of those 3-4 weeks ago, but from Connecticut.

    One letter from my psychiatrist and I’m disqualified.

    Actually, you might want to ignore this, just to see how comical NJ gets trying to get a dead man into a jury box, including charges of contempt of court for not responding. You’ll probably need a certified death certificate, but I wouldn’t show them that until I showed them the closed case from Probate Court handling the will.

    Check your email.

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