Some are professionals in the field of public administration, with years of study at the university and post-graduate level behind them. Others have made their mark first in private enterprise and later in government service. The judicial system relies on the service of citizens as members of juries in federal, state and local courts. Every American of legal age is subject to jury duty, unless he or she can show that such service would constitute a revere personal hardship. Grand juries have enormous powers to investigate wrong-doing by public officials as well as private citizens.
Trial juries sit in judgment of their fellow citizens charged with violations of the law.
Under the Constitution, all persons born in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are citizens of the United States and of the district in which they reside. Under certain conditions, children born to American citizens while they are traveling or living outside the country are also citizens. A person born in a foreign country may become an American citizen through the process of naturalization. Aliens who live in the United States are not compelled to become citizens, nor are they penalized for not doing so. A great many noncitizens live in the United States and enjoy the same freedom of thought, speech and action accorded to natural-born Americans.