One Pennsylvania resident has been called to perform his civic duty a few years earlier than expected.
Jeanette Fox says her son came running to her with a summons from the Chester County court to appear for jury duty in March. Her son, Luke, is only 11 years old.
‘I got summoned to jury duty,’ Luke said. ‘I’m only 11 so I didn’t think it would ever happen.’
Fox says she tried to go online to request an exemption, but there was no option to select for those too young to serve. She says she made multiple phone calls, and a person who answered said the county had recently changed companies that pull the list for people who receive summonses.
The summons came with dress code recommendations for the day, tips on things to bring, and even directions on where to park a car – something that didn’t apply to 11-year old Luke.
The error was eventually fixed, but Fox says her son was excited to go. Luke is a Boy Scout, and he toured the Chester County Courthouse last year.
Luke Fox, 11, was called for jury duty by Chester County, Pennsylvania authorities – despite the fact his age made him ineligible to serve
He was also interested in the fact that he’d get off from school for jury duty.
‘They sit during the court case and listen to both sides of the story and they go into the back room, discuss it and take a vote on if the person is guilty or not,’ he said.
‘I think he would’ve done a great job,’ Jeanette said. ‘I would have worried more about the content he was hearing.’
A representative from the Chester County Courthouse said that if a minor gets a jury summons, they should request an exemption. It’s not immediately clear how Luke’s name got in the pool of names taken for jury duty.
It’s not clear how Luke got called for jury duty (Chester County Courthouse, above), but he expressed interest in serving and having a day off from school