DARIEN, Conn. — She is too young to take a civics course, but a 4-year-old Connecticut preschooler is learning quickly about jury duty. That is because she received a summons to serve.
Sadia Ibrahmini, of Darien, saw the notice when she got her mail on Monday and assumed it was for her or her husband, Omar Ibrahimi, CT Insider reported.
“Dang it,” she said. The family’s dermatology practice was busy and she wondered how they would balance civic duty with business.
Then her husband, who had already opened the mail, told her to “Look closer.”
DID YOU SAY JURY DUTY?! A 4 -year-old from Darien was summoned into jury duty at the Stamford Superior Court. The last time this type of situation occurred was in 2019.
— News12CT (@News12CT) February 5, 2026
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The summons was for their 4-year-old daughter and youngest child, Zara Ibrahimi, according to CT Insider.
“I did a double-take when I saw Zara’s name on the letter,” Omar Ibrahimi told Connecticut News12. “Obviously, some kind of mistake was made.”
Still, the child was frightened when her parents explained what jury duty was, believing she would get in trouble if she did not appear.
“She was like, ‘I don’t want to go to jail,’” Sadia Ibrahimi told CT Insider.
Zara does not have to worry about serving time -- or jury duty, for that matter, according to an official from the Connecticut Judicial Branch.
Donna MarcAurele, a jury administrator, told the newspaper that the girl’s name was on a list from the state Department of Revenue Services. That is one of four sources that the state uses to find prospective jurors. The other three are are voter registration lists, motor vehicle records and labor records.
“It’s the only agency that doesn’t provide birth dates,” MarcAurele told Connecticut News12.
She added that removing the girl from the juror list would be “no problem.”
More than 500,000 people are called to jury duty, and occasionally a child will appear on the list.
“It does happen every once in a great while,” MarcAurele told the newspaper.
A 10-year-old boy in Glastonbury was called for jury in 2019, according to CBS News.
The Ibrahimis turned the clerical mistake into a civics lesson for Zara and her siblings, Sarah, 12; and Daniel, 8.
They explained that as a juror, Zara would have to decide whether someone is guilty or innocent of a crime and asked her to make similar conclusions about her siblngs, CT Insider reported.
Zara was jokingly asked about whether Sarah was guilty or not guilty of being a bad sister.
“Guilty,” she said.
“It was a good teaching moment,” Sadia Ibrahimi told the newspaper. “It’s exciting at the same time.”
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