filled them out and returned them and have heard nothing more.

summons came yesterday basically 6 months after she filled that stuff out.

Dress nicely. You show up...go through security screenings (leave cell phone, purses, etc in the car if you can). You will be taken into a federal courtroom where there will be federal marshals all over the place. The defendant will be in the room. Everyone will be given an overview of what the case is...and then they will do the voir dire.
It took several hours to select the jury and then the trial was to take an estimated 3 days.
It was kind of a neat experience.

We were told we would be in the pool for 4 years, but wouldn't have to serve more than once per year. I served 3 years ago, and have never been called back.

Those are a little bit different and they meet periodically to decide which cases will be tried and which will be passed.

A prosecutor presents evidence to a grand jury, sometimes quite complicated evidence, and the grand jury decides whether to issue an indictment. The process is supposed to be very secret and confidential. For example, it is said that a federal grand jury is looking into some of Scott Walker's activities, but there has been no official information in the press that I know of.

Much more information on grand juries: http://campus.udayton.edu/~grandjur/

the court houses are nicer
other than that not a whole lot different that local/county jury duty

but didn't serve on a jury. I had to call into a central number after 6pm from Sunday thru Thursday for 1-month....but I never had to show up to court. They just kept saying, call back at such and such a day, then one day said, thanks your jury duty has ended. 2 weeks of this they said on Tuesday night there was no need to call in until the next Sunday night.

Basically, she'll go to the federal courthouse, wherever that is. The clerk there will calculate the mileage she drove from her home to the courthouse and later she will get a check in the mail for it. You'll sit down in a large waiting area with other people tapped for jury duty, and you'll get to watch a video with someone from the SCOTUS on it talking about the history of jury's in the US, and the process, etc.

The actual part in court can be kinda... Interesting. Depending on the case, whether its civil or criminal, will determine the number of jurors. Jurors will be called(by random I think) to sit up in the box, and they will be questioned there by the attorney's. Sometimes that questioning can be one on one, directly, or all at once with people raising a hand to reply(the one I was in had an issue with whether a man had a stroke that caused an accident, so they wanted to make sure no one had any sort of 'stroke' experience in their family or friend life that might cloud or alter their perceptions). Each attorney can, for no reason, remove a few jurors. Its very possible that she may be in that group, and part of the action, and excused or sworn in.

Its also possible she could be sitting in the audience the whole time, watching, never apart of the action, and then going home afterwards, never having said a thing in court. <_^

And it was a 19-year old kid that was going to go away for the rest of his life if convicted.
His mother and his pastor spoke to his character.
It was really quite sad.

without any voir dire.

Different from county court, where I've also served. Things ran very efficiently and smoothly, no wasted time. The jury pay is higher than at county level, and because I lived 90 miles from the Federal courthouse, I received mileage and a per diem as well.

Read everything they send you. Do not try to bring in cell phones, knives, or anything else forbidden. Bring reading material and snacks (the food service in the courthouse where I was wasn't the best).

Though I took my service seriously, I also admit it was like a mini-vacation: stayed in a historic area, met some really interesting people, got a break from my regular life. Would happily do it again.

To pick jurors who will side with them.

and show up that day--at least 20 mins early.

She can bring a book and an UNOPENED bottle of water. She should NOT expect to be able to bring her cell phone with her, so she can leave it in her glove compartment until lunch. She should bring a snack the first day, that she can leave in her car, unless the court website tells her there is a cafeteria or nearby place.

Every federal court has different rules. They are usually available online, as is PARKING...and directions.

She should not freak out. Grand juries vary--but because they are expensive, they tend to be as efficient as possible. Can you tell me where? State/city? She may not be sat, or she may sit for days, weeks, or months. She will not sit every day.

She should dress comfortably and neatly. No jeans. The court personnel appreciate respect of the courtroom, and all she need do is show up that day with her summons. They will tell her where to go.

She should answer all questions honestly and if she has a question, she can certainly ask it.

She is doing a great civic duty.

can get justice in this country anymore. We live in an area where corruption is the norm. We had someone who stole from the city and they didn't have to pay back the money they stoled which was a couple of million (a lot for a small/medium town like ours)

Instead of foreclosing on the house he bought, which everyone believe was bought by the stolen money they just hiked up the taxes for the citizens of the town.

Her view on cops mirror mine if not worse. She's always said she'd trust a psycho with a gun with her life before a cop. She's never met a cop that didn't used his badge to get him/her something or harass a person.

I keep telling her not all cops are like the ones we know and she won't believe me.

forms they give her, and make sure she tells the truth. If she truly thinks that she cannot serve, she should say so.

problems and she will not have to serve this session.

Once in Miami, I was picked for the jury. It was criminal court and I was fortunate that the defendant plea-bargained. The second time, fortunately, I was not picked. But it is a boring experience having to sit around and wait to be called. In Georgia, when I was summoned another time, I was not chosen. I live northwest of Atlanta and having to drive there is a bitch because of the traffic. The last time I received a notice, I was relieved to see that if you are over 70 years old, you can be excused. Fortunately, I was 71 at the time. I did have to send in a notarized statement. But I was lucky that my next door neighbor was a notary.

In all truthfulness, I would not wish jury duty on anyone.

She was absolutely petrified because she has never even been close to serving on a jury before. She told them on the questionnaire that she was over 70 and was unable to sit for long periods of time. She never heard from them again.

I got as far as voir dire, and when they found out I was an engineer, they decided they didn't want any analytical thinking types on the jury. So I went home and a couple weeks later got my mileage reimbursement in the mail.

attorney and not take all the evidence and actually use a mind?

Do not want informed people.

in 1981. One day a week for a year. We investigated a bunch of county government departments, had a couple of criminal cases, and wrote a 200-page report at the end of the year. It was a lot of work, but very interesting. Since I'm a professional writer, I got the job of writing the report. Pre-computer, too. I keep it on a bookshelf in my office.

We did some good stuff, and even got to investigate a temporary county jail facility for protesters at the Diablo Nuclear Power plant, and the state prison located in that county. We actually did some serious work, and got some results. In California, grand juries aren't used that much for criminal cases, but do a lot of investigation and audits of county government and other government operations. Cool stuff to learn about. No real pay, though. Just free work. The Grand Jury was picked from a pool of people who volunteered to be on it.

...filled it out and returned it, but have never heard back.

Sat on a 'petit jury' in a Federal trial once; one of my best experiences.

Why freaked out? A bunch of citizens learning about and helping implement the laws. GREAT experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_jury

called again. However we were able to get him out of it because he has health issues. I have never been called.