HARTFORD CITY, Ind. -- A retired pastor will spend a day in Blackford County Jail for forgetting about a jury summons.
Ferrell Long, 75, says he simply forgot the summons in between shuttling his ailing wife to hospitals and nursing homes. When he went to the Blackford Circuit Court, the judge didn't believe his story, and fined him $50.
"I just took it as if I paid the fine, then I was accepting the fact that what he said was true," Long said. "So that makes me a liar if I pay the fine. So therefore I took the stance that I will not pay the fine. I will take the 24 hours in jail."
The case has stirred widespread controversy throughout Hartford City and beyond. The judge was quoted in the local payer as saying that people don't forget jury duty. They may say they do, the judge said, but they don't forget that any more than forgetting to pay their taxes on April 15.
Pastor Long, who says he's never been arrested – never even had a traffic ticket – won't let anyone call him a liar, not even the Blackford County Judge.
"I've got one judge I will stand before and he will justify me," Long said. "And He knows my heart. He knows my heart."
Long will surrender to the Blackford County Jail at noon on August 6, where his meals and lodging will cost taxpayers $50 – the same cost of the fine he has, on principle, refused to pay.
Long says when he's released from jail on August 7 he will make a $50 donation to the Abused Children's Fund.
