Can they force my husband to do jury duty if he is the only income in our home?
Here in the UK, salaried employees get paid their full salaries and the government compensates the employers if they have to bring in temps to cover. Usually what happens is that other employees work together to provide cover so that someone can sit on a jury. In the past 5 years or so, we have had three employees get called for jury service and every one of them was on a murder trial which lasted for weeks. I think the longest one was 8 weeks. But we happily did their work, because we believe in the jury system, and believe that it is right that people who are intelligent enough to have good-paying jobs are intelligent enough to understand the judicial process, the evidence, and to think reasonably without letting their emotions interfere. I certainly believe that working people make the best jurors. Someone here says they got compensated for the financial shortfall. I certainly hope there is a way for an intelligent working man like your husband to serve without suffering financial h
If I seem unsympathetic, it’s because I am. No offense but if your husband serving on a jury puts you into complete financial ruin then you have issues that you truly need to deal with. We have a jury system to be sure that everyone is judged fairly by a jury of their peers. It’s our civic duty to serve, not whine about it. You and your family are no more special than the thousands of other people who serve on juries every year, and lose income because of it. My husband and I got called to serve in back to back months – he got partial pay from his boss and used som vacation, but I am self-employed as an independent contractor – guess what I got? (Let’s just say your hubbies $50 bucks looks GREAT compared to what I got!) Then again we refuse to live one paycheck away from financial ruin as it seems you and your husband have chosen to do – that is not anyone’s problem but your own. So I would suggest that you either go get a temp job, sell something, or just deal. I would highly recommen
