Posted on 09/03/2007 5:53:16 PM PDT by Blueflag
A query for the FR legal eagles: DOES THERE EXIST a FEDERAL Statute or Public Law mandating grand and petit jury service? If yes, can you provide citations? ( I realize some state constitutions co so )
The reason I ask is that my 86 year-old mother passed me an AP article from the AJC relating how sheriff's deputies in NC literally went to a grocery store parking lot and presented random people with jury summons (with a 1 hour or else ultimatum from the judge) so that the county's jury pools could be filled.
Is this due process? WHAT in the law grants the State ( and the judge as its proxy) the power to 'shangai' jurors? Don't we have laws AGAINST 'impressing' people into service?
Inquiring minds want to know
I was a registered voter for over 30 years before I got called, then it happened twice in 5 years. “When you’re hot, you’re hot. When you’re not, you’re not.”
Priceless!
BTW - Love your tag.
OK, that’s the easy question. While the right of the judge to compel jury service sounds in the common law, in the federal courts, Jury service is governed by 28 USC Secs 1861 - 1878.
Section 1861 makes jury service obligatory: “It is the policy of the United States that all litigants in Federal courts entitled to trial by jury shall have the right to grand and petit juries selected at random from a fair cross section of the community in the district or division wherein the court convenes. It is further the policy of the United States that all citizens shall have the opportunity to be considered for service on grand and petit juries in the district courts of the United States, and shall have an obligation to serve as jurors when summoned for that purpose.”
The penalty for not showing up is in Section 1866, paragraph (g).
(g) Any person summoned for jury service who fails to appear as directed shall be ordered by the district court to appear forthwith and show cause for his failure to comply with the summons. Any person who fails to show good cause for noncompliance with a summons may be fined not more than $100 or imprisoned not more than three days, or both.
You are right that it seems he has a state law question. But hasn’t the SCOTUS held that you need not show law enforcement ID? If so, you could claim to live in another juris diction.
This also points out the problem with technique. Any conviction or judgement such a jury might bring back is at risk. What is the chance a jury put together this way would contain at least one member who was ineligible?
I’ve never been called either, though some of my coworkers have been called 2 or more times.
It would be interesting if an out of state tourist got roped into serving on a jury without mentioning the non-state resident matter.
Yes, but you would need to assert that to the judge, and if he catches you lying to him, you will see the inside of the jail.
What is the chance a jury put together this way would contain at least one member who was ineligible?
But they aren't putting together the jury, they are putting together the panel from which the jury is chosen. There would still be voir dire.
The challenge I would make would be to the customer base of the shopping center or store chosen. Does the store have too high of a percentage of white shoppers? Do they sell items that appeal to Blacks? Hispanics? Are there more BMWs than low riders in the parking lot? Was the statutory mechanism (if any) for putting together the panel followed?
Engineer works for me every time.
In the instance I heard about, there was no sloppy planning except by the members of the jury pool who were summoned for duty, but didn’t show up. That’s a serious problem. If you can’t get a full jury, how can you conduct a trial? Then, if the trial is postponed, there’s a backlog.
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