Skip to main content

I just received the initial letter regarding jury duty here in Maine.  There is a question about having a disability that would prevent me from serving.  Well, I don't consider a jpouch a disability, but I do feel I will need to reveal my bathroom needs.  Anyone else experience this?  I thought about contacting my surgeon to see if he would write a letter for me.  Hmmm, it's not that I don't want to serve, but I also know that I can't wait for bathroom breaks.  Your thoughts are appreciated.

 

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Thanks for your reply - I'm so sorry to hear that your jpouch has not been helpful.  I know that different people have different levels of success with their pouches.  I had a great surgeon in Boston and I have not had any issues with mine other than the some bum irritation after frequent bathroom trips.  I feel blessed.  I hope your pouch function improves.

I could maybe endure a couple of hours without the need for the bathroom, so sitting on a jury wouldn't be a problem.

The fear of the unknown, the uncertancy and whether the need for the bathroom being on my mind, may compromise my concentration to the facts of the trial.

I would certainly hate to be in the position of having to stop the proceeding so I can use the bathroom, I'm sure throughout a trail, the court will have recesses for this very reason.

If you're keen to complete your Jury Duty, it may be worth asking the Courts whether there's a procedure in place that will enable you to participate without feeling apprehensive.

Last edited by Former Member

I had no problem with jury duty and felt proud to have participated in a trial.  I suggest that you contact the court clerk and ask about bathroom availability and whether having to use the bathroom during trial proceedings would present a problem.  Based on what you are told, you could decide if you would request exclusion based on “handicap”. 

I get a jury summons every year like clockwork. Sometimes my jury number is called, but usually I don't have to report. When I have had to report, most times I just sit in the jury waiting area all day and never see the inside of the court room. There, I can move about and use the toilet all I want.

The few occasions I had to go to a court room I wound up not being selected. I do tell the judge that I have inflammatory bowel disease with no colon and may have urgent need to use the rest room. They tell me to just raise my hand and they'll take a recess. The one time I got into the jury box for selection I wound up getting dismissed by one of the attorneys. Anyway, they typically would recess before I needed to raise my hand. My main complaint was that the court building is old, the bathrooms are in the basement, and the elevators are slow.

In my state you have to have a written excuse from the doctor to be waived from jury duty until age 70. Long story short, it has been OK for me.

Jan

I had to get out of mine the last time. Just a note from the surgeon and a visit prior to the scheduled jury selection I went up there and was excused. 

Now I get one for grand jury duty! 

I don't have the pouch. So I can do it. I would find it interesting. 

But. Time is the problem. I work afternoons and don't get up until 11am.  And they want me there at 8 30am. Just getting into REM sleep at that time. Lol. I'd have to get up at 6 30 am to make it to the courthouse. It's 25 miles away! 

Richard. 

Some years ago I was in a jury selection process that ran quite long - the judge didn't break for lunch and we didn't get out of that room until after 2 PM. I remember thinking that the judge was being irresponsible because any diabetics could get into trouble. I'm lucky enough that it didn't occur to me that a J-poucher  might also be in trouble.

Add Reply

Post
Copyright © 2019 The J-Pouch Group. All rights reserved.
×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×