Federal Jury Duty

[DancingStitches]

I have searched and searched but have not found an answer to this question so I hope someone here can help me. I have Federal Jury Duty in New Haven, CT on September 11th. I have even tried calling the court but have not been able to speak to a "person". My question is.....can you bring a crochet hook into a Federal Court building? I was able to bring one to Civil court in Milford but I am told that Federal is "Big Time" and they may not allow a crochet hook. I'll go crazy if I have to sit there all day while waiting to be picked (or preferrably NOT picked) and not be able to crochet. I can't read that long....I'll get sleepy! I thought about a plastic hook, etc. and thought that maybe I should arrive EARLY and if they won't let me bring it in, I could bring it back to the car. OH - can you tell I don't want to do this? They won't even let you bring in coffee! There are so many people that would love to be a juror - why can't they call them?!

[luckybmr]

I would bring a cheap plastic hook, and arrive early so you can go back to your car. Some places allow it, some don't. Don't bring any scissors. If you bring something to cut with, make sure you show it to them also so they don't take it from you - like a yarn pendant cutter thingy - never know the mood the security people could be in. I would take minimal projects to work on. Maybe just one or two small ones, etc. If you bring a lot of stuff, they may want to search more. Good Luck!

[Suebee42]

I had Federal jury duty in 2005, and I had no problems getting my crochet hook in. I did use plastic.

 

I put my yarn pendant cutter on my keychain (I have a big keychain with lots of junk hanging off it); they didn't even flinch. They made a bigger deal about a package of 8 roller pens I had in my bag, which looked funky on the x-ray. LOL!

[DancingStitches]

Yarn cutter on your keychain is a great idea! I'm going to go buy a plastic crochet hook today and will get a yarn cutter pendant also. I have a tote bag that I just bought that could double as a tote/large purse - it's not too big. I'll just put wallet and yarn and keys, etc. in one bag. Now I just need to find a "Toteable" project - maybe something with square motifs or mile a minutes....any suggestions for that?

[chrissyf]

I can suggest project for that. I take along a cone of sugar and cream yarn and make dishcloths. You can easily finish one and it might even soften security up if you gift them with a handmade washcloth. Most dishcloth patterns are repetitive and simple so you only need to look at the pattern a few times. Hope this helps.

[DancingStitches]

Dishcloths - another great idea!! This is why I love Crochetville:hug

[Mom w/a Motif]

All those suggestions sound great. I had jury duty in July. I ended up not having to go in, but man... what a pain just to find that out!! (Like you said, you don't get to talk to a person. And, I couldn't even get to the automated system for over an hour...) I hope I don't ever get jury duty again. They find me no matter where I am... Maybe it would be more fun if I could bring my crocheting but I can't stand people looking at me (it makes me really nervous) and I know they will look at me if I am crocheting..

 

Hope you can get it in!!

 

Tina

[JCB]

I'm in the New Haven area also. I had to be in court a few months ago and I was able to bring my crochet hook in. I was in the court that is on Church Street (NOT the court facing the Green). I'm not sure which courthouse you are going to.

 

The courts are not like boarding a plane. If you have something that is not allowed, they will hold it for you and you can get it back on your way out. I once had a can of pepper spray on my keychain... it had been there so long I didn't think about removing it. I was able to get it back when I left.

 

Good luck!

 

Joan

[Redheart]

Re small project-how about a scarf? You could get a head start on your holiday crafting!

[DancingStitches]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Joan - I am going to 141 Church St. I believe that is the court facing the green. I'm not familiar with that area so I'm going to take a ride down this weekend to see where we're suppose to park. I'm going to purchase come plastic hooks tonight. I guess I'll bring a book just in case!

[mythunderbird]

i wish you luck, they called me like 4 times but each time i was excused because could not sit that long without pain in my back:yes

[Ellie 13]

I've had jury duty a few times, I always brought in crochet. A plastic hook and nail clippers. I'd also bring a book, 2 or 3 decks of cards (ones you don't care about losing) and a folding cribbage board. There's always someone who knows Gin, Cribbage, Hearts or other games. You might make a new friend.

Ellie 13

[DancingStitches]

Cards are a good idea too! I found a pattern for a strip afghan I'm going to bring along with my new plastic crochet hook and my yarn cutter pendant attached to my keychain. I think I'll bring a baby nail clipper too. I figured the strips would be a good toteable project. My daughter had spent months in the hospital after being injured by a drunk driver and it was great to have my little crochet bag handy. So - provided crochet hooks are OK (thanks to you ladies I think they are) I should be good to go to jury duty.

[alchemyfyr]

When I was in my first year of college I got a notice for jury duty (along with half the other freshman). I postponed it for the three years they allow you to, then finally in my senior year I had to do it. I sat all day waiting and finally after 7 hours was told they didn't need the rest of us. After finishing that day they can't call you for three more years.

 

So.... if you really don't like it, you can at least minimalize it for at most one visit in 6 years. I haven't been called since and hope not to....I don't want to be responsible for someone else's future like that!!!

[smg55039]

I got into jury duty with my plastic hooks. They may take exception to metal so stick with plastic. Don't forget your floss - you can use the edge to cut your yarn and nobody confiscates floss. If you are partial to knitting, take pencils. They won't let you bring in sharp pointy knitting needles but they let you take in pencils (one place I went to wouldn't let you have pencils. But you could get a hold of them while waiting in the jury pool room).

 

Jury duty isn't that bad. It's just uncertain and unplannable so folks aren't comfortable with it. You CAN get out of duty if you say the magic words "I can't come in that day because of a conflict/I'm a student/single person business. However, I CAN come in on another day." They will keep calling you until they get you so you may as well pick the day that you go. Then, they can't get you again.

[Ladykats]

You know, I have never been called for jury duty in the 30 years I have been a registered voter. My husband, on the other hand, gets called all of the time. I don't know if I would be to excited about waiting all day to find out if I was excepted or not either.

[Izzaboo]

kittdmc,

 

I work at a law firm and deal with federal courts all the time. The are pretty strick compared to state courts. Here's the link to the court's main website for New Haven, CT. Hope that helps. Jeannie

 

New Haven, CT

http://216.152.235.70/webdir.fwx?mode=divofc&srchstring=D02CTXCNew+Haven+++++++++++++++0000001874&jnet=

 

214 Richard C. Lee

United States Courthouse

141 Church Street

New Haven, CT 06510

Phone: 203-773-2140

 

Main Web Site for CT

http://www.ctd.uscourts.gov

[DancingStitches]

Well, I went to Jury Duty today. I packed my regular hook and blunt tip childrens scissors in with the yarn, etc. On my keyring I put the yarn cutter pendant and in the bottom of the tote bag was the plastic crochet hook. They scanned the tote bag and as I stood there with Security I could clearly see the scissors and steel hook. I waited for him to say something. NOTHING, he said absolutely nothing about the hook or the scissors. He told me to take my bag and go to the Jury Room. Then, after all that, I barely had a chance to crochet at all. I sat in the jury box (with the other potential jurors) and answered questions from the Judge and lawyers for hours. I was not picked for Duty but may be summoned again in October because the Federal Court has you for two months. I couldn't believe that when the Defendants lawyer read the names of the witnesses, one of the names was the guy that lives down the end of my street. What a small world....

 

Anyway, thanks for all your suggestions!

[eurolyons]

Years ago (like 2 decades ago) I had jury duty and I worked on an afghan through the waiting process, which was all day long...so you can imagine how much work I got done. Now I would imagine though that you'd have to put the crocheting down if you're selected for a jury and the trial starts...and yeah, plastic hook and a yarn cutter is a really good idea...

[Mermaiden]

Well, I can now officially confirm that I was allowed to take knitting needles into my local courthouse, lol. So I'm sure they won't care if I end up taking my crochet hook too.

 

(Today is the first day of jury duty. My first time. Don't know yet if I'll be *on* the jury, but I'll find out in a little while! If I do, I'm sure I'll get in a lot of crochet time this week...)

 

When I first went in, I'd gone into the other building, and asked if the needles were allowed. He let me know it was the wrong building but that the other bldg would allow them. So maybe they don't allow them in part, I'm not sure. I too had my whole kit in there with metal yarn needles & scissors. No issues.