The Bogus Jury Call

Contagious Entertainment Strikes Federal Courts

In January, at least a dozen federal courts around the country took calls from members of the public who had received very unusual jury duty notifications. First, the notices were delivered by e-mail. Secondly, they summoned prospective jurors to a "Superior Court." And lastly, the very official looking e-mail notification included a questionnaire with a series of increasingly inappropriate questions.

Recipients were right to be suspicious. Federal courts do not send jury notices by e-mail; U.S. district courts are not "Superior Courts;" and the questions asked on the official questionnaires are routine. Still, the notice fooled several recipients—even though the questionnaire was followed by an ad promoting a television show featuring practical jokes and scams.

The vague "Superior Court" designation meant that more state courts than federal courts reported inquires from members of the public. Nonetheless, the federal courts were not amused. The bogus form said that anyone failing to respond to the summons would be taken before a judge for a hearing and could be subject to a $1500 or more fine—a fairly serious misstatement that could mislead or confuse some of the approximately 330,000 members of the public called each year for jury selection. In fiscal year 2001, a total of 329,464 jurors were present for petit jury duty, of which nearly a quarter were selected and served on 7,340 criminal and civil juries in federal courts. According to U.S.C. 28 §1866 (g), "any person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as directed shall be ordered by the district court to appear forthwith and show cause for his failure to comply with the summons. Any person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than three days, or both."

According to Bob Lowney, chief of the District Court Administration Division at the Administrative Office, a notice was sent to all district courts alerting them to the phony notice and asking that the courts keep the Administrative Office apprised of any questions from the public.

Before additional action was needed, the company responsible for the bogus jury notice issued a statement apologizing for any confusion in the promotional gimmick, saying, "[Our] goal is to provide users with ‘contagious entertainment' and give people an enjoyable break from the grind of their daily routine. . .We did not intend for anyone to take the e-mail seriously nor to confuse it with an actual governmental notice."

Nothing more has been heard of the suspect jury duty notifications, but district courts are on the alert for any future breakouts of "contagious entertainment."