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Judge to Mom on Jury Duty: No Babysitter? You're Going to Jail!
Filed under: In The News, Weird But True
It was a very bad day, indeed, for Carmela Khury when she was called for jury duty in a Michigan murder case: Her mother, who was watching her two kids, had to have emergency oral surgery. Then, her backup child care fell through.
Khury called the office of Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Leo Bowman, according to The New York Times, and explained her predicament. Still, she was ordered to show up for jury selection at 9 a.m. and was warned that if she didn't, she could be arrested. So Khury gathered up her 8-month-old son and 3-year-old daughter and took them with her.
She showed up at 9:25 a.m. with her children in tow, and she was excused from her duties. But things didn't end there: Bowman ordered her to sit through every day of the trial as an observer. Additionally, Bowman sentenced her to 24 hours in jail for contempt of court after the trial ended.
Khury did as she was told, reports the Detroit Free Press, and sat through two days of the trial while her mom, still recovering, watched the kids.
"It was very upsetting," Khury, 37, tells the newspaper.
The State Court Administrative Office intervened on her behalf and scolded the judge for his outrageous behavior. An administrator from the office sent a letter to Bowman, telling him he had no authority to order such a punishment and threatening him with sanctions if he didn't cut it out.
It seems that Bowman has a temper. According to the Free Press, Khury isn't the only potential juror to run afoul of the judge during this particular trial. He also detained a small-business owner who said the trial would create a hardship for his company. In the past, Bowman has jailed a medical student who said his exams would interfere with his jury duty, as well as a woman who asked to be excused from a sex case because of her personal experience with sexual assault.
He also held another mom who said her husband's overseas travel would create a hardship for her family because she didn't have access to child care for her two young children.
Peter Henning, a law professor at Wayne State University, tells the Free Press no judge has the right to hand down jail time without due process. It is, Henning says, a violation of constitutional rights.
"When you are imposing punishment, and that's what jail is, it becomes criminal contempt," Henning tells the newspaper. "She's entitled to due process, a hearing and an attorney."
Is a lack of child care a valid reason to get out of jury duty, or was this judge right on the money?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
3-10-2010 @ 11:34AM
wasabi said...Power corrupts!
Reply
3-09-2010 @ 2:16PM
CLM said...Since the judge could easily have dismissed the court for the day and resumed the trial the next morning, my opinion is the judge was way out of line. Especially when you consider that Khury had not only acquired childcare for the duration of the trial, but had backup childcare as well. The fact that she was the victim of childcare failure after good faith efforts to secure said care fails to meet the standard of contempt. I'm actually very surprised that she was selected to serve on a jury in the first place, given that she is the primary caregiver for an infant under 1 year of age and another child under 5 years of age. I don't know what Michigan's rules are, but in NY State at least, you are not required to serve on a jury if you have children under school age and are the primary caregiver.
Reply
3-09-2010 @ 3:01PM
Brenda said...The Judge was being a JERK. It goes to show you how people abuse their authority.
Reply
3-09-2010 @ 4:11PM
Elizabeth said...Honestly, it just goes to show you just how inconvenient it is to have jury duty. I just got called last week, and if I'd had to go, I would have missed both work and school and not been excused from either. The courts need to realize that not everyone can put their lives on hold to be members of a jury, and if they ask us to, we should be compensated more than a measly 15 bucks a day. It's almost not worth it to register to vote anymore.
Reply
3-11-2010 @ 8:57AM
terrie said...will the judge was wrong they are all crooked the fools
Reply