Skip Jury Duty at Your Peril -- The Judge Issued an “Order to Show Cause”

[WSJ Law Blog]

Jury duty. It ranks among the more dreaded phrases in the English language. But lest you are tempted to ignore the next jury summons that lands in your mail, we offer you two object lessons about the sort of wrath a judge may visit upon you.



In Tampa, judge Gregory P. Holder seemed to reached a breaking point this week with no-show jurors, according to this item in the St. Petersburg Times.

On Monday, the judge issued an “order to show cause,” summoning people who had skipped out on jury duty that day to return to court in November and explain their absence, the Times reports.

Those without legitimate excuses could be fined $100 or put in jail for six months.
More...