CA: Sex Offenders Demand Right To Serve On Juries
A judge said Wednesday she is inclined to dismiss a lawsuit filed against the Los Angeles Superior Court and state Attorney General Xavier Becerra in which five registered sex offenders say they and people like them are being unconstitutionally barred from serving as jurors.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara Scheper, saying there are “novel issues the court is being asked to consider,” took the case brought by the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws under submission. She said she may have a ruling next week.
The alliance is representing four men and one woman in the suit filed last Nov. 7 against Becerra and Sherri Carter, the clerk of the Los Angeles Superior Court. They are challenging a 2019 state law that they say initially was written to allow all convicted felons, including registered sex offenders, to be jurors.
However, the bill was later amended “to target registrants by making them the sole class of persons excluded from that bill’s reforms,” according to the suit.
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In offering her rationale for dismissal, the judge said the law still bars some convicted felons from jury service, including those in custody and others under court supervision.
Custody and court supervision are elements of the punishment meted out for a crime. This judge has just equated registration with punishment. One of the legs supporting registration is that it is merely a civil regulatory measure, and not punishment. We should thank the judge.
Nice catch Ed I missed that point myself
In Connecticut, even while I was on probation, I got a jury duty notice. My probation officer told me I can serve on jury. The court clerk said the same. I showed up for the selection but was (thankfully) not selected. Oh, and in Connecticut ALL felons can vote. This is a United States right that no state has any business taking away from anyone unless that person is currently incarcerated.