How Jurors Are Chosen in the U.S. Court System

How Jurors Are Chosen in the U.S. Court System If youre trying to get out of jury duty at the federal or state levels, your best chance of doing so is by never registering to vote or canceling your current voter registration. As important as the right to vote is, many Americans opt out of voting to avoid being called for jury duty. However, keeping your name off the voter rolls does not guarantee you wont be randomly chosen for jury duty. Thats because many  state federal  court  districts also pull prospective jurors from lists of licensed drivers and tax records to  supplement their stable of potential juror from  voter lists.  So that means you could be called for federal jury duty in some federal court districts if youve got a drivers license. Nonetheless, voter rolls remain the primary source of prospective jurors. And as long as they remain so, your best chance of avoiding jury duty at the state or federal is to stay off the list of voters in your county and federal court district. Or to get a job as a professional police officer or firefighter, or even run for elected office in your town or state. Simply complaining about having to work wont cut it. How Prospective Jurors Are Chosen in Federal Court Potential jurors are chosen for federal court from a jury pool generated by random selection of citizens names from lists of registered voters, the federal court system explains. It also may use lists of registered drivers. Each judicial district must have a formal written plan for the selection of jurors, which provides for random selection from a fair cross-section of the community in the district, and which prohibits discrimination in the selection process. Voter records - either voter registration lists or lists of actual voters - are the required source of names for federal court juries, according to the federal court system.   So if youre not registered to vote, youre safe from jury duty, right? Wrong. Why You Still Might Be Picked For Jury Duty Canceling your voter registration card of never registering to vote at all doesnt mean youre exempt from jury duty everywhere, and heres why: Many courts supplement voter lists with other sources  including  lists of licensed drivers.   According to the Federal Judicial Center: Congress requires that each district court develop a plan for selecting jurors. Generally, the selection process begins when the clerk of court randomly draws names from the list of registered voters in the judicial district, and sometimes from other sources, such as the list of licensed drivers. Only in Ohio and Wyoming do state courts use only the list of registered voters to build jury pools, not drivers lists or tax rolls. That means you can avoid jury duty in county and state court by simply staying out of the voting booth. Everywhere else? Youre likely to end up in a jury pool at some point in your life if you drive a car or pay taxes. Is That Really Fair? There are lots of people who believe drawing prospective jurors from voter-registration lists is wrong because is discourages people from entering the political process. Some academics argue that the connection between voter registration and jury duty represents an unconstitutional poll tax. As of 2012, 42 states used voter registration as the principle means of choosing prospective voters, according to a research paper by Alexander Preller of Columbia University. Jury duty is a burden, but not one which a concerned citizenry should gladly bear. However, jury services should not be allowed to parasitically burden other civil rights, Preller wrote. The economic burdens of jury duty do not pose  constitutional problems so long as they remain separate from voting; the problem is the link itself. Such an argument claims the current mechanism for choosing jurors forces many Americans to abandon their most precious civil right to carry out a civic obligation.  But other experts believe the wider and more racially and economically diverse the jury pool, the fairer the justice system is. The whole point is for the master jury list to be as inclusive as possible, Greg Hurley, a lawyer and senior analyst with the National Center for State Courts, told the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper. Whos Exempt From Jury Duty There are some people who will never have to report for federal jury duty, regardless of whether they are registered to vote or not. The federal Jury Act, which requires the random selection of citizens names from voters lists, states that members of the military serving in active duty, police officers, professional and volunteer firefighters and public officers such as elected officials at the local, state and federal levels do not have to report for jury duty. Some courts also exempt the elderly and people who have served on a jury in the previous two years. If youve got another reason you think jury duty represents an undue hardship or extreme inconvenience, the courts might consider granted you a temporary deferral, but these are determined on a case-by-case basis. The other people who dont have to serve on a jury are: Non-citizens who have lived in their judicial district less than a year.People who cannot speak English or read, write or understand English with a degree of proficiency necessary to fill out a qualification form.The mentally ill or physically infirm.People charged with a felony crime that is punishable by more than a year in prison.Those who have been convicted of a felony and have not been granted a pardon, which restores their civil rights.Minors.