In the American system, peers does mean equals, as opposed to elected officials, judges, or other government employees. That’s why juries are more or less randomly selected.
The root of ‘peers’ is in the Magna Carta.
That runs counter to elected officials (and government employees) being called for jury duty and speaking highly of it as their civic duty. What you are saying is that being elected (or a government employee) makes a person ineligible to serve as a juror, as a matter of law. No further excuse need be given, to get out of jury duty, "I am an elected official" or "I am a government employee."