Bureaucratic interaction was also a part of my life in the States. Every four years I had to renew my drivers license. There were a few occasions when I bought or sold a car I had to interact with DMV to transfer the registration. Once I had my car stolen and had to file a police report. I remember occasionally feeling exasperated listening to the same song over and over while hold with some official office, or explaining the details of my case to Person X who then tells me I had better call Person Y, who then transfers me to Person Z, who informs me that Person X is the one who handles this type of situation.
But since uprooting my life and planting myself in new soil, I have had to learn to fine-tune my bureaucratic patience. Getting married to an Italian involved a mountain of paperwork and a complex choreography of interaction between several bureaucratic offices in both of our countries. Becoming an Italian resident was an adventure in forms, translations, photocopies, official stamps, and a favors from a friend of a friend. Obtaining Swedish residency seemed more straightforward at the onset, but lately we've run into complications that have made us seriously consider just giving up and moving back to Italy.
On top of this, I received a jury duty summons last week. From a California courthouse. It arrived at my mother's house, which I continue to use as my permanent mailing address. The same thing happened about a year and a half ago, when I was living in Italy. At that time I called the Jury Commissioner's office and explained that I'm no longer living in California, that I'm married to a European and making my life outside of America. The person I spoke to back then was very nice - she said that I should just fax in my juror form with I am not domiciled in the State of California checked, along with a letter of explanation and a copy of my passport showing my stamp of entry into the EU. It was easy to do and it required a minimal expenditure of time and energy. I thought the problem was solved, so it surprised me to get the déjà vu email from mom: "You've got a jury duty summons here, what would you like me to do with it?"
I called the court office and briefly recounted my situation to the woman on the phone, ending with "I sent in a letter last year explaining I live outside the US, so I'm confused that I'm receiving another summons." She told me that the letter last year only excused me from jury duty last year, that I'd have to fax in another letter this time, and that I should expect to continue receiving jury duty notices in the future. She went on to inform me that sending in a letter would probably work this time, and maybe even next time, but that after a while this method wouldn't effectively excuse me from serving jury duty and I'd eventually be held in contempt of court.
Whoa. Contempt of court. I've heard those words on TV, and I don't like the sound of them. I asked what I could do to stop receiving summons, and her advice was that I call California's Department of Motor Vehicles and cancel my drivers license. I asked if she was serious. "Yes, ma'am." I suggested that there must be some other solution; that my situation couldn't be so unusual. "This is what we tell everyone in your situation," she informed me, "There's nothing we can do about it at this office - you'll have to call DMV."
In case it isn't obvious, let me state that I really don't want to cancel my California drivers license. I don't go home so often, but when I do I generally have occasional access to a car and I like to be able to get around that way. I've tried navigating southern California via bicycle and public transportation, and it wasn't a particularly enjoyable experiment. Plus, my California drivers license affords me permission to drive in Europe for one year from the issuance date of my Italian and Swedish residencies. Giving up my license would have an immediate unwanted effect on my life.
The first thing I did was call my embassy. They're the ones who help Americans living outside America, right? The operator told me that there was nothing they could do for me; that they handle federal issues and jury duty is the jurisdiction of the state.
The next step was to call DMV. With the time difference it was a little tricky to call at a moment that didn't have a ridiculously long wait time, and when I finally spoke to a human, he didn't know what advice to give because he'd never heard of a situation like mine. "We are obliged to give the courts a list of names of licensed drivers every six months," he told me, "and there's no way to have your name removed from that list." I informed him of the jury commissioner's suggestion of canceling my drivers license and he was as disbelieving as I had been. He went on to suggest that cancelling my drivers license wouldn't necessarily solve the problem because the courts also receive a list of names from the Registrar of Voters. I told him to ixnay the ancellationcay, and I called the Registrar of Voters.
The woman who answered at the Registrar's office listened sympathetically to my problem, but said the same thing as DMV had said - that they have no choice about providing the court with a list of names of registered voters. She kindly helped me to register as a permanent absentee voter, but told me that this status makes no difference with regard to my name's presence on the list given to the jury commissioner. She also told me that according to California election code 2025, I have the right to maintain my last residential address in California as my voting address / district even though I'm living out of the country now. Her reference to rights and codes got me thinking about a strongly worded letter I might send the jury commissioner, and I called DMV again, this time with the intention of arming myself with a knowledge of my rights.
I dialed the general number at DMV and asked if it was a problem from a legal standpoint that I maintain my California drivers license even though I live outside of California. I was transferred to the Public Inquiry Department where a very nice woman listened to my situation and sided squarely with me. I asked her if she could cite some vehicular code that would confirm this right, and she put me on hold while she went to look it up. A few minutes later she returned and told me she had bad news: the only code applicable to this situation was California vehicle code 17460, which says that by accepting a drivers license I have consented to obey any "summons" that are sent to me whether I am living in California or not. She seemed to believe that "summons" generally referred to being held responsible for legal infractions - parking tickets and whatnot - but that the Jury Commissioner could reference this code in asserting their right to oblige me to serve jury duty based on my possession of a drivers license.
Damn. There went my strongly worded self-righteous letter plan.
I felt defeated, but I still felt rebellious. I followed the Jury Commissioner's instructions, mailing in my juror form, copies of various official documents confirming my existence outside of California, and a letter of explanation. The letter (below) was meant to draw attention to the absurdity of my situation, and hopefully put a smile on the face of the human who receives it. I doubt it will solve my problem for the long term, but I doubt it will make anything worse either. Perhaps I'll have some new ideas of how to deal with this situation by the time the next jury summons arrives. Maybe I'll have a Swedish drivers license by then, or as several folks have suggested, perhaps contempt of court are words with a strong bark but no bite. One friend has suggested I might receive help from my representative in Congress if I contact him, but at this point I've mailed my letter to the Riverside County Courts and I'm gladly putting this issue out of my head. I've got plenty of other bureaucratic strings to untangle.
Riverside Office of the Jury Commissioner
PO Box 400
Riverside, CA 92502-0400
July 17, 2012
Dear Jury Commissioner,
I regret to inform you that I am not available to fulfill the duty to which I have recently been called. My badge will not sit proudly upon my breast, for I am at this time incapable of participating in the judicial system of Our Great State. Woefully, I am not currently domiciled in the State of California, but in Europe, and I am unable to procure the funds necessary to transport myself to 4100 Main Street, despite my heartfelt desire to fulfill my civic duty.
You see, I have entered into the sacred bonds of a transatlantic matrimony, and please believe me when I say that the pang of regret that I feel at my current inability to participate in America’s esteemed legal system is but one among a great many difficulties that I have undertaken to endure by joining my life to a partner who shares my undying love of country, but who harbors a pointedly different opinion as to exactly which country on God’s earth is most deserving of our love.
I maintain the Californian address of #### Riverside // 92507 (my childhood home) as a mailing address and in fact as my permanent address, for I shall not give up my dream of someday returning to The Land of Liberty, and breathing in the smell of freedom; indeed it is still America I think of when I hear the word home. However I am currently domiciled (and expect to remain domiciled for the next two years) at #### // 41258 Göteborg // Sweden while my husband pursues his higher education, after which time he insists we shall return to his beloved Italy so as to live as near as possible his mother.
Mr. Commissioner, please understand that I swore a vow before almighty God that I would love, honor, and obey my husband. More specifically, I swore di amare, onorare e rispettare, and Italians take these words quite seriously, particularly the rispettare part. If I were to break with this oath, even for so high a calling as that of serving the great judicial system upon which America was founded, then there would remain no honor in my countenance to render me worthy of wearing the title Juror, now nor in the future. For this reason I cannot promise with any certainty when in the future I might be available to make my offering of service to the Superior Court of California; I can only underscore that my current inability weighs heavy upon my conscience.
Enclosed is a copy of my Swedish residence permit, my Swedish residence card, my Italian marriage certificate, and my US passport. If you desire any further information or documentation you need only ask. I can be contacted at my Swedish address (above), via email (vickers.jaime@gmail.com), or on my Swedish mobile phone (011 46 070 ####).
God bless America,
Jaime Vickers
BEST LETTER EVER!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYou are funny and smart.
Thanks! So far so good. Let's hope the jury commissioner sees it the same way. j
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