Opinion ID: 1250937
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Language and Citizenship Requirements

Text: In connection with this second aspect of the third summarized assignment of error, Garza asserts that migrant farmworkers in Lincoln County, who are mostly Hispanic, are excluded from jury service, although they represent a discernible group of the population, because they neither read, speak, nor understand the English language, nor are they citizens of the United States. However, as the U.S. Supreme Court wrote in Foley v. Connelie, 435 U.S. 291, 296, 98 S.Ct. 1067, 1071, 55 L.Ed.2d 287 (1978): It is no more than recognition of the fact that a democratic society is ruled by its people. Thus, it is clear that a State may deny aliens the right to vote, or to run for elective office, for these lie at the heart of our political institutions.... Similar considerations support a legislative determination to exclude aliens from jury service. (Emphasis supplied.) In Perkins v. Smith, 370 F.Supp. 134 (D.Md.1974), aff'd. 426 U.S. 913, 96 S.Ct. 2616, 49 L.Ed.2d 368 (1976), the plaintiff claimed a violation of equal protection rights under both the 5th and 14th Amendments, arguing that 28 U.S.C. § 1865(b) (1988), which prohibits aliens from serving on a jury and requires potential jurors to be able to read, write, and understand English, is discriminatory. The court, however, ruled that the exclusion of aliens from petit and grand jury service in both state and federal courts did not deny the aliens equal protection. [T]he state has a compelling interest in the restriction of jury service to those who will be loyal to, interested in, and familiar with, the customs of this country. 370 F.Supp. at 138. The Perkins court emphasized that a trial by jury is one of the principal foundations of our nation and that service on such should be reserved to those individuals who are citizens. See, also, United States v. Toner, 728 F.2d 115, 130 (2d Cir.1984) (neither due process nor equal protection of the law is involved in the time-honored federal system of drawing petit and grand jurors only from citizens of this country). See, United States v. Gordon-Nikkar, 518 F.2d 972 (5th Cir.1975); United States v. Armsbury, 408 F.Supp. 1130 (D.Or.1976). The Massachusetts Supreme Court has accurately noted that it is undeniable that some aliens do not possess these requisite attributes [of citizenship] and jury service is too critical to the just operation of the court system to place it in the hands of those who are not able to carry out the duties of such service. Commonwealth v. Acen, 396 Mass. 472, 482, 487 N.E.2d 189, 196 (1986). Except for the exclusion of aliens from positions intimately related to the process of democratic self-government, state law that discriminates on the basis of alienage can be sustained against equal protection attack only if it can withstand strict scrutiny by advancing a compelling state interest by the least restrictive means available. Bernal v. Fainter, 467 U.S. 216, 104 S.Ct. 2312, 81 L.Ed.2d 175 (1984). As was therein explained: The rationale behind the political-function exception is that within broad boundaries a State may establish its own form of government and limit the right to govern to those who are full-fledged members of the political community. Some public positions are so closely bound up with the formulation and implementation of self-government that the State is permitted to exclude from those positions persons outside the political community, hence persons who have not become part of the process of democratic self-determination. 467 U.S. at 221, 104 S.Ct. at 2316. Consequently, minimum scrutiny is required when a political function is involved. Id. See, Foley v. Connelie, supra (police may be required to be citizens); Ambach v. Norwick, 441 U.S. 68, 99 S.Ct. 1589, 60 L.Ed.2d 49 (1979) (states may require teachers to be citizens); Cabell v. Chavez-Salido, 454 U.S. 432, 102 S.Ct. 735, 70 L.Ed.2d 677 (1982) (states may require probation officers to be citizens). As observed in Commonwealth v. Acen, 396 Mass. at 481, 487 N.E.2d at 195: Jury service clearly lies at the heart of Anglo-Saxon democratic self-government and falls within the Bernal political function exception. Without further discussion, it is sufficient that the U.S. Supreme Court, in Foley v. Connelie, supra , has acknowledged in dictum a state's right to restrict aliens from participating in the jury process. Nebraska's statute serves a reasonable interest in restricting potential jurors to those individuals who understand the American form of government and are committed to the interests of this nation. Accordingly, citizenship is a legitimate prerequisite to jury duty. Furthermore, allegations of denying noncitizens the right to serve as jurors also fail under a Sixth Amendment analysis. As noted earlier, the Duren three-prong test requires a showing of underrepresentation of a suspect group in a cross-section of the community. As it has been shown that a state may restrict noncitizens from serving as jurors, the cross-section requirement is not invoked. Like citizenship, the requirement that judicial affairs be in English has also been found both reasonable and important in other jurisdictions. Acen, supra ; United States v. Benmuhar, 658 F.2d 14 (1st Cir. 1981); Miranda v. United States, 255 F.2d 9 (1st Cir.1958). In State v. Jett, 111 N.M. 309, 805 P.2d 78 (1991), the New Mexico Supreme Court held that it was necessary for the jurors to speak English. `It is self-evident that a juror who does not possess a working knowledge of English would be unable to serve because he cannot possibly understand the issues or evaluate the evidence to arrive at an independent judgment as to the guilt or innocence of the accused.' Id. at 313, 805 P.2d at 82, quoting State v. Gallegos, 88 N.M. 487, 542 P.2d 832 (N.M.App.1975), cert. denied 89 N.M. 6, 546 P.2d 71. The Idaho Supreme Court, in holding that individuals lacking the capability to converse in and understand English could not sit as jurors, remarked: It would be patently unreasonable for this Court to require the state of Idaho to utilize jurors who are not proficient in the English language, unable to understand testimony, directions of the court, or read exhibits and instructions. It is not difficult to perceive that the State has a significant interest in the integrity of the jury system, and that that interest is manifestly and primarily advanced by limiting jurors to those who are capable of understanding the proceedings. As long as the qualification is equally administered as to all foreign language speakers there is no constitutional infirmity in the requirement that jurors be competent in English. State v. Paz, 118 Idaho 542, 552, 798 P.2d 1, 11 (1990). As the New Mexico court observed, the requirement that jurors speak English also promotes efficiency within the judicial system, as allowing an unqualified juror to serve in a criminal case may constitute a constitutional violation and lead to further litigation. State v. Jett, 111 N.M. at 313, 805 P.2d at 82. See United States v. Rouco, 765 F.2d 983 (11th Cir.1985) (defendant alleged juror was not proficient in English and therefore he was denied a fair and impartial jury). Section 25-1601 promotes the interests of the state's judicial process by assuring that jurors can understand the proceedings. The trial court's findings that there was no discrimination in the selection of a jury are not to be reversed on appeal unless clearly erroneous. State v. Venable, 233 Neb. 309, 444 N.W.2d 907 (1989). The district court was not clearly wrong in concluding that there was no discrimination during the jury selection.