The U.S. Senate is currently reviewing a bill that would exempt college students from jury duty.

Bill 2045 states that any person enrolled in and attending school as a full-time student at an accredited public or private school will be exempt from jury duty, upon request. The U.S. House of Representatives passed the Bill Jan. 14.

Under the bill, students are exempt only if the school they attend is located more than 50 miles away from the court where they are summoned.

Most college students qualify for jury duty because criteria to serve include a minimum age of 18, U.S. residence and citizenship, ability to understand and communicate in English, and no felony convictions.

Sidney Oglesby, Onondaga County commissioner of jurors, said that he excuses about 40 to 50 students each month.

‘There’s a trial every week, so that’s around 10 students,’ he said. ‘With this loss of college students, there’s a draw down in the pool of potential jurors.’

Oglesby said that a student must have Onondaga County in their permanent address in order to be contacted for jury duty while at SU. This can be recorded in voting registration information, a driver’s license or other documentation from the Department of Motor Vehicles, information from taxes, or if the potential voter receives public assistance or unemployment compensation.

The loss of college students doesn’t necessarily hurt the court, Oglesby said, but it does limit its selection for its jury.

If a student puts his or her school address as their permanent residence, this new bill would not exempt him or her from duty at an Onondaga county courthouse, Oglesby said. If an SU student is living at home, for example, the student would still have to serve, he added.

Before the bill was passed, Oglesby said he excused college students from the constitutional responsibility until summer months.

‘What I usually do is give the student a postponement or excuse until the date of graduation,’ he said. ‘I will usually wait until June or July and give them a bit of a respite before contacting them.’

A similar postponement is written into the bill, as well. Students can only request exemption during school months while classes are in session.

Sanjay Chhablani, assistant professor of law, said jury duty should not be considered a ‘burden,’ but an opportunity to serve the community.

‘I think that students already know that jury duty is a great way to participate in society,’ Chhablani said. ‘It ought to be looked on as a civic service rather than a nuisance. This bill, though it appeals to students because of the free time it gives them, actually does a great disservice to students.’

Chhablani also said that by removing an entire demographic of jurors, the judicial system loses an entire perspective of younger people. Chhablani said this could lead to unfair trials.

Jessie Kitzman, a freshman policy studies major and pre-law student, agreed with Chhablani.

‘As a college student, it would be great to be exempt, but if you’re removing that part of society from a jury, you’re removing an entire part of society, and that’s not fair for the trial itself.’

As a student, Kitzman said that anything that takes up extra time would be seen as ‘annoying’ to many college students, but she said that completing jury service is rewarding in itself.

‘Any student that isn’t interested in law would think of it as a waste of time,’ she said. ‘But it’s still a good thing to be included in a jury as a college student.’

smtracey@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2009 at 12:00 pm