Title: A Jury of One's Peers: Virginia's Restoration of Rights Process and Its Disproportionate Effect on the African American Community
Abstract: INTRODUCTION The plaintiff, an African American male, brought an action against the defendant, a white male, for alleged injuries sustained when the defendant's car collided with the plaintiffs car. During voir dire, the judge asked the prospective jurors if any of them had been convicted of a felony. The only African American member in the jury pool looked inquisitive as he slowly raised his hand, and he explained to the judge that he had been convicted of a felony ten years ago. With a sympathetic look on his face, the judge dismissed the prospective juror and explained that under Virginia law all convicted felons are excluded from serving on any jury unless their civil rights have been restored by the state. (1) Under current Virginia law, convicted felons permanently lose their civil rights unless they apply for, and are granted, a restoration of those rights by the State. (2) These rights include, among others, the right to vote, (3) the right to hold public office, (4) and the right to serve on a jury. (5) The Governor has the sole authority to restore a felon's civil rights. (6) In the summer of 2002, Governor Warner instituted an expedited review process for those convicted of non-violent felonies applying for a restoration of their civil rights. (7) Although the new process has enabled more convicted felons to regain their civil rights, (8) the blanket denial of civil rights to convicted felons who have finished serving their sentence has a significant impact on jury trials, particularly those involving African Americans. One in four African American males in Virginia is a convicted felon, (9) without the right to serve on a jury. This demonstrates that the exclusion of felons from service on both civil and criminal juries prevents a significant number of African American males in Virginia from representing a fair cross-section of their community in the jury pool. (10) As a result, Virginia's restoration of rights process, although neutral on its face, disparately impacts the African American community and may deprive an accused African American of his right to be tried by a jury of his peers in a criminal trial. This Note will explore the restoration of civil rights process and its effect on the jury system in Virginia, particularly on the African American community. Part I discusses the creation of the Anglo-American jury and the development of the jury system in America, and it also discusses the important Supreme Court rulings that shape jury composition and the ways in which the State is permitted to exclude prospective jury members. Following the history of the American jury, Part II explains the Supreme Court's fair cross-section requirement for jury representation. Part III analyzes Virginia's restoration of civil rights process by describing the policy as it currently exists and comparing it with proposed legislation, which would have eased the restoration of voting rights process for those convicted of non-violent felonies. Part IV provides a national overview of felony exclusion laws that prohibit felons from serving as jurors, using Virginia as a benchmark. This Part also offers policy arguments against these laws. Part V outlines the arguments for and against Virginia's current policy in the context of both criminal and civil cases. In addition, this Part analyzes the treatment of drug offenders and evaluates specifically how it burdens the African American community. Part VI highlights the constitutional concerns that underlie Virginia's restoration of civil rights process and its effect on the jury system. Specifically, this Part addresses three constitutional issues: the Sixth Amendment's jury of one's peers requirement, the Fourteenth Amendment's due process requirement that laws be racially neutral, and the right to privacy found in the Ninth Amendment, in the context of the requirement that a felon disclose his felony status before being eligible to serve on a jury. …
Publication Year: 2005
Publication Date: 2005-04-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 2
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