Published on 12, July, 2020
HI
I have been asked to do jury duty and I really really cannot do it. I have sent the form back asking to be excused. I was diagnosed late in life 2 years ago. I just hope they do excuse me as I am anxious now waiting to see if they get back.
Does anyone have any experience of how this works. Do you think having aspergers will be a good enough reason to be excused. I realise we are all different and some would love the opportunity but I am not one.
Thanks in advance for any input.
I think it depends how it affects you. I'd do it and be fine. Others might find having to deal with the social contact too much or be worried their communication might fall apart under the stress.
Clearly, jury duty is a civic duty and just not wanting to is not a good enough reason for anyone to be excused. However, if there are particular aspects of your autistic profile which would make it difficult for you, I would outline that as your reason to seek excusal. Your GP might back you up with a letter.
I agree that autism, in itself, shouldn't be seen as a reason not to serve.
I am a magistrate. I do it on a volunteer basis once a month. We sit as a 3-member panel and are both judge and jury in criminal cases with power to imprison for up to 12 months.
I find it very draining and stressful. The small-talk in the retiring room between cases is painful and the planning to accommodate it is problematic for me (rota is published 6 months in advance but diary management is a very weak area and I always seem to end up double booked and having to try and find a way to keep my court commitment at the expense of the other thing) but I do it because I feel a strong public service compulsion.
I can't count the number of times I have sat on a bench with a generic bossy type who has instantly decided what the verdict and sentence should be and a generic meek type who just agrees with them, and it has fallen to me - the probable autistic - to stubbornly insist that we walk through the reasoning out loud following a logical process, point out all the bits of information they haven't heard or connections that they haven't made in following the chain of events, explain where they are focused on bits of evidence that are irrelevant to the decision that needs to be made and make myself very unpopular with my 2 fellow magistrates in the process. It often changes the outcome though, and I find that sometimes I only need to be difficult and really push my point for the first case that is up, and then my colleagues become a lot more thoughtful in their deliberations for the rest of the day.
I think autistic people an bring a lot of much needed rigour, balance and insight to court proceedings and should be encouraged and supported to participate on juries, if they are able to manage the anxiety this causes. Of course I understand that this may not always be possible.
I just wanted to highlight the positive aspects of being an autistic juror
Oh just realised this is 6 years old. Ah...still people are being called up all the time. Always relevant, I guess