Legislature OKs Bill To Let Non Citizens Serve On California Juries

I thought juries were selected from voter registration rolls. How can someone be selected for jury duty if they aren't allowed to vote?

Originally posted by LurkingRelentlessly
this opens up a whole pantry of canned worms...

canned worms with foreign allegiance...

Indeed, it does. It is beyond me how this can be allowed,
any foreign citizen. Any foreign citizen. :shk:

Originally posted by VictorVonDoom
How can someone be selected for jury duty if they aren't allowed to vote?

Great question, I would like to know my self.

I guess we will have to wait on the details, after the two time governor of
California - lifetime politician that he is signs the bill.

reply to post by burntheships


You should be happy that they're at least LEGAL! I almost expected to see they were allowing illegal immigrants on the jury stand.

I am against this. It's one thing for citizens to be on juries despite their ability to understand english. It's another for people who are only visiting this country legally to be on juries.

The United States Constitution guarantees a right to trial by jury (which can be waived), and a right to an impartial jury, but it does not specify exactly who must be on that jury.

The CA bill is NOT allowing illegal aliens, undocumented persons, or anyone here illegally to serve! That is rhetoric (whether by design or ignorance) to make people's knees jerk! Nor is it allowing someone here legally to study, visit Disneyland or work. The change is to allow Green Card holders (PERMANENT residents) to serve, ONLY IF they meet the other requirements.

This allowance is not for Federal juries but for state juries. Caught in a federal crime in CA, you still would have a trial without a Green Card holder.

reply to post by desert


that is all beside the point.

they have foreign allegiance, until they swear otherwise. at what point do they do that i wonder...? OH THATS RIGHT, just before they are granted citizenship!

everybody here is thinking mexico...but this would allow CHINESE NATIONALS, perhaps even IRANIAN or any other scary boogyman nation.

this would undermine the sovereignty and security of the state via foreign influence.

not that i care about that God forsaken state...

reply to post by LurkingRelentlessly


It's legal for Americans to have dual citizenship Does that mean that such citizens swear allegiance to another country? Most Americans are citizens by birth; at what point do these citizens take a judicial sworn oath to pledge allegiance to the U.S.? Maybe Ted Cruz is a Canadian agent, placed here to secretly undermine the U.S. govt, economy, and society.

The U.S. military swears in non-citizens. One of the first Iraq War casualties was Jose Gutierrez, a Guatemalan immigrant. Here is what he swore in order to fulfill the military requirements
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."

In order to fulfill the requirements of the U.S. Constitution, here is the oath required of jurors in CA
"Do you, and each of you, understand and agree that you will accurately and truthfully answer, under penalty of perjury, all questions propounded to you concerning your qualifications and competency to serve as a trial juror in the matter pending before this court, and that failure to do so may subject you to criminal prosecution? Do you, and each of you, understand and agree that you will well and truly try the cause now pending before this court, and a true verdict render according only to the evidence presented to you and to the instructions of the court?"

Here is what a Green Card holder signs to
"As a permanent resident, you are:

Required to obey all laws of the United States the states, and localities
Required to file your income tax returns and report your income to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities (see IRS link to the right)
Expected to support the democratic form of government and not to change the government through illegal means
Required, if you are a male age 18 through 25, to register with the Selective Service"

Technically, Green Card holders are not considered foreign nationals.

To many, the Supreme Court decision Citizens United opened the door to foreign influence over sovereignty and security of the United States. That was scary.