Opinion ID: 1925281
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Maryland's Statutory Juror Qualification Scheme

Text: The Maryland Rules reiterate that the right to a jury trial is preserved in the Circuit Courts as it is guaranteed by the Maryland Constitution and Declaration of Rights. Maryland Rule 4-311(a). Maryland Code, Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article,  8-102(a) states that when a criminal defendant is entitled to a petit jury, the jury shall be selected at random from a fair cross section of the citizens of the State who reside in the county where the court convenes. Md.Code (1973, 2002 Repl.Vol.), Cts. & Jud. Proc.,  8-102(a) (hereinafter Cts. & Jud. Proc.). [35] The Article also specifies that either a jury commissioner or the clerk of the court should manage the jury selection process with the end goal of establishing procedures that assure the random selection of a fair cross section of the citizens of the State who reside in the county where the court convenes. Cts. & Jud. Proc.,  8-202(2). Among those procedures is the provision of a juror qualification form to be mailed to potential jurors asking them, among other things: [36] their race and national origin, length of residence within the county, and any other questions within the purview of the statutes concerning jury selection. Id.  8-202(5)(i). The Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article further provides that [a] person may not be disqualified or excused from jury service except on the basis of information provided by the juror qualification form and leaves the determination of qualifications to the jury judge, on his or her initiative, or by recommendation of the jury commissioner or clerk of the court, as the case may be. Cts. & Jud. Proc.,  8-207(a). Under the Article, [a] person is qualified to serve as a juror unless he [or she]: (1) Is not constitutionally qualified to vote in the county where the court convenes. . . . [37] Cts. & Jud. Proc.,  8-207(b)(1). The Maryland Constitution, in turn, states that no person shall vote . . . unless his [or her] name appears in the list of registered voters. . . . MD. CONST. art. I,  2. In order to be registered to vote, an individual must be a citizen of the United States. . . . Md.Code (2002), Election Law Article,  3-102(a)(1). Thus, the Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article requires indirectly, among other qualifications, that jurors be citizens of the United States. We believe that this broad and detailed statutory scheme for selecting qualified jurors encompasses the same, if not greater, body of law addressed in the English common law extant in 1776. Importantly, the statute discusses clearly the same citizenship requirement that existed implicitly at common law, thus abrogating the older common law rule. [38] This renders inconsequential Owens's  de medietate linguae argument. Properly understood, Owens's argument contends that because the de medietate linguae exception was not formally abolished by the Maryland General Assembly until 1809 [39] proves that the common law embraced that concept in 1776. Therefore, if the exception were still in place at common law, its existence demonstrates that citizenship was a qualification for jury service in 1776. This is irrelevant because, as Owens points out, the Legislature created an express statutory citizenship qualification for jury service as early as 1973. Md.Code (1957, 1972 Repl.Vol.), Article 51,  1. We have noted previously that a statutory enactment may abrogate completely a common law principle, rendering it of no effect. The 1973 statute creating the citizenship qualification did just that.