Philadelphia courts tells hundreds not to show up
                    for jury duty -- in 1900

                    November 27, 1999 
                    Web posted at: 1:52 PM EST (1852 GMT) 

                    PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- As many as 500 people got notices telling them to show up for
                    jury duty in 1900 -- an error caused by the so-called Y2K bug in city court computers. 

                    "Yes, after all the work that was done to avoid this, it happened," city Jury Commissioner
                    Michael J. McAllister told the Philadelphia Daily News. "Well, it was only one run of
                    mailings, and we've taken care of it. It shouldn't happen again." 

                    About 400 to 500 people got the erroneous mailings, he said. 

                    McAllister said the problem only involved those who had been granted postponements of
                    their jury duty; the notices were for a second call. 

                    But Charles McLaughlin of the city's Port Richmond section, who got his summons Friday,
                    said he had never asked for a postponement. 

                    "I told my wife, 'I've got jury duty, but I can't go. I've already missed it.' Then I told her it
                    was for the year 1900," he said. 

                    Brian Anderson, who is in charge of the city's computer systems, could not be reached for
                    comment by the Daily News. 

                    Computer experts around the world have been warning for months about the Y2K bug, a
                    technological glitch that can cause computer systems to mistake the year 2000 for 1900. 

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