“I understand that it is the cornerstone of our court system and blah blah blah…but jeez, asking me to drop everything and show up on a three working days notice…that’s a little much.”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Elvert Barnes

“Dear PoPville,

OK, so i have lived in DC for, oh, 20+ years and yet this is new to me. Have you heard anyone else getting this sort of summons? I have been summoned for Superior Court Petit, Grand Jury, and District Court Petit and Grand Jury repeatedly, pretty much every two years on the dot. But I have never received a summons via email(?) and never with a court date of less than one week(?), I mean WHO DOES THAT? I got the following email from Superior Court of DC this morning. When I called to make sure that this was legit (it is) they offered to let me defer it three months if I need to. It just so happens that I am able to go this coming Tuesday but really, is this the way its gonna go down now? The clerk told me it had something to do with delayed mailing or some other garbage. It seems once again another insult to DC residents and the whole jury duty treadmill. I have friends that live in Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee and other states and have for years and they have yet to receive a summons. And yet we are asked to every two years like clock work, for two different courts and four different types, and your schedule be damned. Listen I understand how important trial by jury is to the US legal system. I understand that it is the cornerstone of our court system and blah blah blah…but jeez, asking me to drop everything and show up on a three working days notice…that’s a little much. Sure, you give me the opportunity to defer it, but the sheer audacity of the summons is just plain rude. Oh she did say that they have now, extended the time between summons to 2 1/2 years. Well, ain’t that just grand?

I have always thought that an organized boycott of jury service in Washington DC as a protest against our lack of Statehood would be a powerful means of protest. It would have to be a mass protest to be effective but we could grind the courts down to a stop.

But anyway, has anybody else gotten this summons?”

Dear XXXXXX:

In order to meet the urgent needs of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, you are hereby summoned to appear for jury service as follows:

Name: XXXXXXX

Date of Juror Service: 1/30/2018

Reporting Time: 8:00 AM

Location: Moultrie Courthouse

500 Indiana Avenue NW

3rd Floor, Room 3130

Washington, D.C. 20001

Juror ID Number: XXXXXXXX

Juror Type: Petit 1

This electronic notice shall serve as a courtesy copy of your paper Juror Summons, which has been mailed to your home address.

Please immediately visit eJuror Services at www.dccourts.gov/jurorservices to complete the juror qualification form.

Please log in using the Juror ID Number listed above.

Pursuant to D.C. law, jury service is mandatory. You may not be excused from service based on your occupation.

If you require an interpreter for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing to enable you to serve, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Trial by jury is fundamental to our democracy. The Court will attempt to make your experience as pleasant as possible. For an expanded version of this document with other important information, please visit our Web site at www.dccourts.gov/jurors/about-your-jury-duty.

Thank you for your service to our community.