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Jury Duty

I have attached my message to this rather old thread rather than start a new one and complicate the file structure of UT.

My wife, who is 73 years of age and confined to a wheel chair as a result of a seemingly never ending series of health problems, received a form letter from the government that requires her to register as a potential juror. One of the questions is "do you suffer from a disability that would preclude you from serving as a juror" without the opportunity to explain the disability. The form goes on to explain that a judge will rule on whether an exemption is valid in her case. How does a judge make a decision with no information to work with?

Yes, I understand that wheelchairs are made available for those who need them and so they should be but that need is not identified on the form and is not the reason my wife can't serve on a jury. The reason she can't fulfill a citizen's duty to serve on a jury is too personal to be discussed on this forum but not available to those who matter in this legal triage matter because there is no way to discuss it with a human being. The website is very general in content and the 1-800 number offers a lovely lady ( I think she is the same person who is constantly exhorting me to turn left in 200 metres or whatever on my GPS) who reads the website text to me verbatim with no exclusions or additions.

Has anyone been here recently, have you any advice? I visualize a command to appear at such and such a place for a judge to pass judgement on a condition that precludes her being there in the first place.
 
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The website is very general in content and the 1-800 number offers a lovely lady ( I think she is the same person who is constantly exhorting me to turn left in 200 metres or whatever on my GPS) who reads the website text to me verbatim with no exclusions or additions.

Has anyone been here recently, have you any advice? I visualize a command to appear at such and such a place for a judge to pass judgement on a condition that precludes her being there in the first place.
My wife got a letter about jury duty 3-4 years back when we had a 1-year old she was taking care of full-time. I suppose she could have done it, and I'd have stayed home from work, and taken the baby to the court every day for nursing ... but when she phoned the number, she had no problem getting herself out of it, simply by explaining that she had a small child at home who was nursing (and asking how their child care worked :) ). It was easier than I expected ... I figured she'd at least have to appear.

I'd think if you explained the situation to them over the phone, that would end it right there.
 
I'd think if you explained the situation to them over the phone, that would end it right there.

Except there is no one to talk to. No option to wait for an operator or whomever just Miss Tom Tom reading the website for you.
 
Hmm. Which court?
I don't know, since the form was on the letterhead of the Attorney General and was accompanied by a prepaid envelope to an Oshawa office.
 
I don't know, since the form was on the letterhead of the Attorney General and was accompanied by a prepaid envelope to an Oshawa office.
Funnily enough a few days my wife got another letter from them as well. Yes it was Oshawa. This was just the preliminary letter, and as we have another baby, she tried to scrawl something across it to make it clear that she won't be available for a few years.

They were hard to reach on the phone. I'm not quiet sure how she did it the first time - but she rang around a bit ... and they did say that she should mail it back to them with the explanation of why she couldn't come. And that would be the end of it.

Looking at yesterday's Star ... it appears that like taxes, even death won't get you out of it! http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/04/woman_who_died_two_years_ago_tagged_for_jury_roll.html
 
Funnily enough a few days my wife got another letter from them as well. Yes it was Oshawa. This was just the preliminary letter, and as we have another baby, she tried to scrawl something across it to make it clear that she won't be available for a few years.

They were hard to reach on the phone. I'm not quiet sure how she did it the first time - but she rang around a bit ... and they did say that she should mail it back to them with the explanation of why she couldn't come. And that would be the end of it.

Looking at yesterday's Star ... it appears that like taxes, even death won't get you out of it! http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/10/04/woman_who_died_two_years_ago_tagged_for_jury_roll.html
In the case noted in the Star the daughter said "“All they’d have to do is go on the Internet and they’d know who’s died,” she said." I assume they send out these notices based on the most recent tax records or property ownership records that they have and they must frequently send them to people who have died or moved. I certainly doubt they have time to (or should) Google everyone to see if they can find out more information. If a person is dead they definitely won't show up, if they have moved they probably won't.
 

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