Opinion ID: 306444
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Excuse of students.

Text: 38 Finally, Ross challenges the provision of the Plan which excuses, upon request, students in actual attendance at a university, college, academy or school having a regular schedule of classes. The authority for such an excuse is 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1863(b)(5), which provides that the Jury Plan may: 39 specify those groups of persons or occupational classes whose members shall, on individual request therefor, be excused from jury service. Such groups or classes shall be excused only if the district court finds, and the plan states, that jury service by such class or group would entail undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to the members thereof, and excuse of members thereof would not be inconsistent with sections 1861 and 1862 of this title. 40 Ross does not argue that the district court did not find that students would be extremely inconvenienced by jury service or that they were automatically excluded without request. Rather, he contends that this finding is erroneous, and that excusing students in this manner violates section 1861. We do not agree. 41 The committee report accompanying the Act indicates that section 1863(b)(5) was intended to promote local flexibility. 1968 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News, p. 1800. We thus will not reverse a district court's finding that a particular group would be extremely inconvenienced by jury service unless it is clearly erroneous. That is not the case here. Contrary to Ross' assertion, the court could reasonably conclude that missing class and study time is more of a hardship for students than missing work is for other occupational groups. Cf. Duncan v. United States, supra, 456 F.2d at 1405. This is particularly so in light of the fact that jurors receive a fee for their services, which at least in part alleviates the burden to wage earners. 28 U.S.C. Sec. 1871. Loss of educational time is not so easily compensated. 42 Similarly, Ross' argument that excuse of students violates section 1861 is without merit. Ross has not shown that students are excluded from jury service; they may serve if they so desire. Moreover, for the reasons discussed above, any resulting underrepresentation of young persons on jury panels does not violate the Act. 43 Affirmed.