Say that I spend a few years traveling the world, visiting Europe, Asia, Africa, etc.. Then I come back to my home in the California to find missed several Jury Duty summons in the mail.
Am I liable for missing all that Jury Duty and not responding to any of it? What is one supposed to do if they want to take an extended trip somewhere? Or is one basically not allowed to take such trips if they are a US citizen eligible for Jury Duty?
What is one supposed to do if they want to take an extended trip somewhere? Or is one basically not allowed to take such trips if they are a US citizen eligible for Jury Duty?
In the US you are not required to seek permission to travel, or prove your past whereabouts to the government if you happen to miss some civic duty. They generally call up way more people than they need for this sort of reason.
The length of time you are gone or where you choose to travel is irrelevant. In my experience you are given about a month heads up. If you didn't receive the notice until you returned from out of town, and they send a follow up, simply inform them of the fact that you were gone and didn't receive the notice until you returned.
Jury duty is an obligation to some extent, but it is also a right and a privilege. It isn't a criminal offence you are liable for if you didn't get the notice. If it were that important to verify your availability ahead of time the notification would be sent registered mail with a signature required.
Under 28 USC 1866
(g) Any person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as directed may be ordered by the district court to appear forthwith and show cause for failure to comply with the summons. Any person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be fined not more than $1,000, imprisoned not more than three days, ordered to perform community service, or any combination thereof.
There are certain statutory requirements disqualifying a prospective juror, such as being unable to speak English, not being a citizen, of having a conviction or pending felony charge, otherwise you are at the mercy of the court, and may vary from federal court district to district. Typically, however, you just need to explain the hardship that jury duty would pose.
In California, failure to appear for a state jury summons is treated as contempt of court, for which you can also be punished. However, disobedience would have to be willful, not just negligent. California follows a "two strikes" policy, meaning that after you miss the first obligation, they send a more strongly worded second notice.
There is no real likelihood that you will be prosecuted if you don't receive and respond to the jury summons, as long as you were not willfully ignoring the summons. When people leave the country for a long period, they typically leave someone "in charge" to take care of details (property taxes etc.). If you failed to give your assistant an instruction regarding jury summonses, or if they willfully tossed the notice, you would not be held criminally or civilly liable.
