Electronic jury duty notification: A hoax

Jan. 11, 2002

Warner Brothers is using a phony online juror questionnaire as part of a promotion for one of its TV shows. Scores of people from Los Angeles to Philadelphia have reported receiving the e-mail.

"We advise anyone receiving this e-mail that it is a hoax and should be ignored," said Director of State Courts J. Denis Moran. "Jurors are the heart of our system of justice," Moran said. "We value their time and commitment and hard work. These phony jury summonses demonstrate markedly poor judgment."

The message has a subject line that reads, "Jury Duty Notification," an official-looking seal and the following message:

In accordance with the new online juror notification system (effective Jan. 1, 2002), please be advised that you have been selected for jury duty service. You are hereby summoned by the Superior Court for service as a trial juror, and must be available any day during the week of 2/11/02.

Your failure to respond to this summons will result in a hearing before a judicial officer. At that hearing, penalties including a possible fine of up to $1500 or more may be imposed. You must complete the following form to comply. Your answers to these questions will be used by the court to place you in an appropriate jury.

If the recipient fills out the form and clicks "submit," an ad for a new Warner Brother program appears. Moran also noted that Wisconsin does not have a Superior Court and does not send juror summonses via the Internet.