1.) bluecat - 05/06/2013

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The California Assembly passed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the first in the nation to allow non-citizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty.

Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, said his bill, AB1401, would help California widen the pool of prospective jurors and help integrate immigrants into the community.

[U]It does not change other criteria for being eligible to serve on a jury, such as being at least 18, living in the county that is making the summons, and being proficient in English.[/U]


Glad to see they are taking a hard-line stance.


Read more: [url]http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/26/california-bill-would-let-illegal-immigrants-serve-on-juries/#ixzz2SWfGdLvU[/url]

2.) DParker - 05/06/2013

Honestly? While I'm not crazy about the idea [I]in principle[/I] (a jury of your "peers", and all that)...in practical terms I find it less objectionable. As many times as I've sat in a jury selection room and seen/listened to the dregs of the citizenry that make up the bulk of the pool of candidates for a deliberative body that will hold justice and some soul's fate in their hands, adding [B]legal[/B] non-citizen immigrants to the mix doesn't bother me that much. Now, if we were talking about [I]illegal[/I] immigrants that would be a different kettle of fish.

Granted, I may be a bit biased in my thinking due to the fact that, though I have a lot of exposure to legal immigrants, the one's I've been around tend to be of the relatively hard-working, motivated and fairly well-educated variety.

3.) bluecat - 05/06/2013

The title is misleading. It says illegal immigrants and then the first line of the piece states legal non-citizen immigrants.

It's getting harder and harder to figure out all the designations. Legal citizen; legal non-citizen; illegal non-citizen; illegal citizen. I have no problem with people coming to the country and working as a legal non-citizen. But when they take up residence then I find the line between citizen and non-citizen a little fuzzy.

Can't believe California is having a hard time finding jurors.

4.) bluecat - 05/06/2013

If you want to reside here, there are certainly ways to accomplish citizenship.

5.) DParker - 05/06/2013

[QUOTE=bluecat;5790]The title is misleading. It says illegal immigrants and then the first line of the piece states legal non-citizen immigrants.[/QUOTE]

Another shining example of the state of journalism in this country.

[QUOTE=bluecat;5790]It's getting harder and harder to figure out all the designations. Legal citizen; legal non-citizen; illegal non-citizen; illegal citizen. I have no problem with people coming to the country and working as a legal non-citizen. But when they take up residence then I find the line between citizen and non-citizen a little fuzzy.[/QUOTE]

So have the courts, on a whole host of items, though the issue of constitutional protections extending to all residents has become better defined relatively recently.

[QUOTE=bluecat;5790]Can't believe California is having a hard time finding jurors.[/QUOTE]

I agree with you there.

[QUOTE=bluecat;5791]If you want to reside here, there are certainly ways to accomplish citizenship.[/QUOTE]

Absolutely. Unfortunately U.S. immigration policies and procedures controlling residency and citizenship for legal immigrants have become a nightmarish joke for those attempting to follow the rules. Take, for example, the young Indian woman I mentioned in my Tofu "chili" thread. She came here on a F1 visa to pursue a master's degree at a Dallas area university, with the intent of landing employment and moving here permanently (which she did). After those two years were up she had to find an employer willing to hire her and sponser her for an H1 visa, which is what would allow her to stay in the country until she became eligable for a "green card". But because of the rules that govern how many H1's are allocated for immigrants from various countries, preferences given to those from *other* countries, and a whole host of other bureaucratic requirements and regulations she was not able to able to get a green card for over six years, which she finally obtained in 2011. Now she has to wait until at least 2016 before she can apply for citizenship. So in her case we're talking a minimum of 13 years from start of residency to possibility of citizenship.

And mind you...this is an educated, productive resident who came here legally, pays taxes, obeys the law, etc.

6.) bluecat - 05/06/2013

[QUOTE=DParker;5792]
And mind you...this is an educated, productive resident who came here legally, pays taxes, obeys the law, etc.[/QUOTE]

That is where she went wrong. :wink

7.) DParker - 05/06/2013

Yeah, my oft-repeated joke to her is that she should have just moved to Mexico and snuck across the border instead.

8.) Swamp Fox - 05/06/2013

I'm stealing from another commentator here, but non-citizens on juries is just another example of immigrants doing work that Americans just won't do...:-)

How about we wait til we see how well imigrants "integrate into the comuunity", to use the congressman's words, by, oh, say, getting their citizenship (kinda the ultimate integration there, I know...So call me crazy) before we ask them to do perform the duties of citizens because we have given up on the actual citizens.

:re:

9.) DParker - 05/06/2013

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;5797]I'm stealing from another commentator here, but non-citizens on juries is just another example of immigrants doing work that Americans just won't do...:-)[/QUOTE]

There's actually a more truth than sarcasm in that. One of the most predictable phenomenon in the known universe is the average U.S. citizen's reaction of, "I wonder how I can get out of it?" to receiving a jury summons. The desire to avoid doing one's civic duty is as American as mom and apple pie.

10.) huya - 05/10/2013

Living here in he state of Calif. It still amazes me how many people actually live here just in Los Angeles. Yet I seem to get them jury summons every 3 years. And they seem to send me to the farthest place from my residency. So I am all for them getting more people. Especially when they want me to go to the downtown LA. court, Which just happens to be where I am suppose to go the 20th this month. Unless you have been there, it is a nightmare. Then they say it is your civic duty. I served 6 years in the armed services, shouldn't that be a civic duty also?, or at least credit as served civic duty? Well at least it gets me out of work.

11.) Hunter - 05/10/2013

Look at how long the Jodie Arias trial went on. 4 Months! That's crazy. How many employed citizens can take off work for that long?

12.) bluecat - 05/10/2013

[QUOTE=Hunter;5950]That's crazy. How many employed citizens can take off work for that long?[/QUOTE]

Ventilator?

13.) luv2bowhunt - 05/10/2013

I remember during jury duty, looking around the room and listening to the people comment how they just wanted to 'get it over with' and go home.

I thought to myself, if you're ever falsely arrested, you are so screwed. You will be judged by a group of people who don't want to be there and just want to get out of the court as fast as they can.

14.) huya - 05/11/2013

That is exactly how I was feeling also.