SACRAMENTO — The California Assembly passed a bill on Thursday that would make the state the first in the nation to allow noncitizens who are in the country legally to serve on jury duty.<\/p>\n
Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, said his bill, AB 1401, would help California widen the pool of prospective jurors and help integrate immigrants into the community.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The bill passed 45-25 largely on a party-line vote in the Democratic-controlled Assembly and will move on to the Senate. One Democrat — Assemblyman Adam Gray, of Merced — voted no, while some other Democrats did not vote.<\/p>\n
Democratic lawmakers who voted for the bill said there is no correlation between being a citizen and a juror, and they noted that there is no citizenship requirement to be an attorney or a judge. Republican lawmakers who opposed Wieckowski’s bill called it misguided and premature.<\/p>\n
Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, R-Dana Point, said there is no shortage of jurors.<\/p>\n
“Jury selection is not the problem. The problem is trial court funding,” Harkey said before the vote. “I hope we can focus on that. Let’s not break something; it’s not broken now. Let’s not whittle away at what is reserved for U.S. citizens. There’s a reason for it.” <\/p>\n