United States v. Henderson

198 F. Supp. 278, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3397
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedFebruary 7, 1961
DocketNo. 58-CR-158
StatusPublished

This text of 198 F. Supp. 278 (United States v. Henderson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Henderson, 198 F. Supp. 278, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3397 (E.D. Wis. 1961).

Opinion

TEHAN, Chief Judge.

The defendant, Martin Henderson, has been charged in a two-count information with violations of § 495, Title 18 U.S.C. After pleading not guilty to both counts, the defendant filed a motion challenging the array of petit jurors, asking this court to stay further proceedings until such time as an array is selected in conformity with the requirements of law. It is his position that the method of' selecting jurors in this district violates- §§ 1861-1864, Title 28 U.S.C., and the Sixth Amendment to the United States-Constitution, because the Clerk of Court, and Jury Commissioner, who are jointly responsible for the selection of qualified petit jurors, attach significant consideration in making that selection to each prospective juror’s formal education.

Periodically, the Clerk of Court and the separately appointed Jury Commissioner replenish the names in the jury drum. In preparation for replenishing those names, they consider some eight hundred persons selected at random. There are no funds available to them to enable them to conduct oral interviews of the prospective jurors. In this district there is, therefore, submitted to each prospective juror a questionnaire which propounds questions designed to determine whether such person meets the statutory requirements qualifying him to serve as a juror, as more fully disclosed in Exhibit 5 attached to the motion filed herein.

The parties have filed two stipulations concerning the method of selection of jurors in this district, and have reached agreement on the following relevant facts:

In preparing to select persons whose names will be placed in the jury drum, the Clerk mails questionnaires to prospective jurors, which questionnaires, among other things, ask the prospective jurors to state the number of years of formal education they have had. When the questionnaires are returned, either the Clerk or the Jury Commissioner separates them into a group which he believes acceptable and a group which he believes unacceptable. Thus separated, the questionnaires are turned over to the other officer, who agrees or not with the decision of the first to accept or reject. When there is agreement on a particular questionnaire no further attention is given to it. Where one disputes the deci[279]*279sion of the other on a particular questionnaire, they examine it together and agree on whether to accept or reject the particular person. Each of them, in making his own personal judgment on whether to urge acceptance or rejection, considers and gives significant consideration to the amount of formal education the prospective juror has had, their purpose in so doing being to obtain a more intelligent jury panel. In addition to formal education, the Clerk and Jury Commissioner, in making their subjective determinations, consider spelling, grammar, penmanship, and failure to answer all the questions, plus the nature and length of the prospective juror’s employment, as indicia ,of intelligence. A person may be accepted for jury duty if the nature of his employment indicates responsibility, ability and experience, regardless of the amount of formal education he has had. There are some jurors on the present jury panel and some whose names are in the current jury drum who have less than an •eighth grade education, but it is more difficult for a person who has not completed the eighth grade to be accepted for jury •duty than for a person who has an eighth grade education or better. The number •of names needed to fill the jury drum has .an effect on how many persons will be selected from those persons having less •than an eighth grade education. The ■questionnaires are sent out each year and if relatively few names are needed, the ■Clerk and Jury Commissioner become ■more selective and are more likely to select those who have had more formal education.

By agreement of the parties, the defendant’s motion has been submitted to the court on the stipulations filed.

It is the position of the defendant that consideration by the Clerk and Jury Commissioner of the educational attainment of any prospective juror in determining whether to accept or reject that juror is violative of §§ 1861-1864, Title 28 U.S.C. because the Clerk and Jury Commissioner are requiring certain qualifications for jurors in this district not required by those sections, which were intended to establish a uniform jury selection system in Federal Courts.

Section 1864, Title 28 U.S.C. directs the Jury Commissioner and Clerk to keep the jury drum filled with the names of not less than 300 “qualified” jurors. Section 1861, Title 28 U.S.C. sets forth the qualifications which they must find before putting the name of a prospective juror in the drum in the following language:

“§ 1861. Qualifications of Federal jurors
“Any citizen of the United States who has attained the age of twenty-one years and who has resided for a period of one year within the judicial district, is competent to serve as a grand or petit juror unless—
“(1) He has been convicted in a State or Federal court of record of a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and his civil rights have not been restored by pardon or amnesty.
“(2) He is unable to read, write, speak, and understand the English language.
“(3) He is incapable, by reason of mental or physical infirmities to render efficient jury service.”

That section, although enacted with the intention of prescribing uniform standards of qualifications for jurors in Federal courts, does not purport to set forth a self-operating formula. The court officers charged under § 1864, Title 28 U.S.C. with the duty of filling the jury drum are required to perform more than a ministerial act, and must exercise their judgment. See United States v. Silverman, D.C.D.Conn.Crim.Div.1955, 129 F.Supp. 496, and United States v. Fujimoto, D.C.D.Hawaii 1952, 102 F.Supp. 890. It is their duty to determine, among other things, whether a prospective juror is able to read, write, speak and understand the English language or is incapable by reason of some mental infirmity to render efficient jury service.

In some jurisdictions, the Jury Commissioners perform their functions by summoning prospective jurors for oral [280]*280interviews. In other jurisdictions, including our own, a questionnaire is submitted to the prospective juror by the Commissioners. Where the oral procedure method is used, it would seem that the Commissioners would not only have the right but the duty, where they are not satisfied with the bare oral assertions of a prospective juror as to his ability to read, write, speak and understand the English language, to inquire for some evidence of the truth of such claims or perhaps of demonstrations of the possession of such abilities. Certainly the extent of the person’s formal education, and reading and handwriting tests would be relevant in this respect.

Where Commissioners use these tests as evidentiary of either the possession or lack of possession of the requisite qualifications we see no violation of §§ 1861-1864 whatsoever; on the contrary, it would be the only proper way of carrying out a deliberative duty and would be in furtherance of the Congressional intent.

In this district, however, the Jury Commissioners do not have appropriations to schedule the some eight hundred oral interviews.

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Related

Thiel v. Southern Pacific Co.
328 U.S. 217 (Supreme Court, 1946)
Ballard v. United States
329 U.S. 187 (Supreme Court, 1946)
United States v. Fujimoto
102 F. Supp. 890 (D. Hawaii, 1952)
United States v. Silverman
129 F. Supp. 496 (D. Connecticut, 1955)

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Bluebook (online)
198 F. Supp. 278, 1961 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3397, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-henderson-wied-1961.