You can make a DifferenceGeorgia — Barbara Anderson |
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(Last updated December 15, 2005) |
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Barbara Anderson |
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Barbara Anderson’s story: When full-time mom Barbara Anderson was called for jury duty in 1999, she had great difficulty finding someone to take care of her then 4-year-old-son, Max, and 2-year-old son, Eli. The Fayetteville, GA resident was assigned to a trial lasting 6 days.
After the trial had ended, Ms. Anderson wrote Superior Court Judge Christopher Edwards to let him know the hardship that jury duty service caused her family. Her husband, Keenan, encouraged her to write about her experience. In her letter, she indicated that the jury duty assignment caused such a disruption to her family that she considered withdrawing her voter registration.
Judge Edwards forwarded Anderson’s letter to several key state lawmakers. The letter played a major role in getting Georgia’s juror selection laws changed. The new state law allows stay-at-home caregivers of children 4 or younger to be exempted from jury duty, upon request. The juror must swear out affidavits regarding their situations.
Anderson gave a lot of credit to Judge Edwards who she says sent the letter to where it needed to be. She also has a renewed faith in the system. “You can write one letter and make a difference!”, she said.
Anderson is delighted about the change in the law, and said that even if she is never called for jury duty again, it (the revised law) will help other stay-at-home moms and stay-at-home dads, too. Excerpted from “The Citizen News”, August 23, 2000 by John Munford
Click here to see more GEORGIA “You can make a difference” stories |
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You can make a difference! |
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Donna’s Story (Illinois) pg.2 |
