NCJ Number
89606
Date Published
1982
Length
53 pages
Annotation
Testimony is presented on S. 2863, a three-part bill relating to the operations of the Federal jury system.
Abstract
S. 2863 extends the coverage of the Federal Employees' Compensation Act to all Federal jurors, providing compensation to them for any physical injury which might be sustained in the scope of their jury service. Secondly, it would amend the statute regulating Federal jury selection to permit summonses for jury service to be served upon the prospective jurors by ordinary first class mail at the election of the district court in addition to the existing alternative method of personal service and service by registered or certified mail. Finally, the bill would make a technical amendment to the statute protecting the employment of Federal jurors, 28 U.S.C. 1875, to expressly authorize the taxing of an attorney's fees on behalf of an aggrieved juror against an employer who has violated the duty imposed by section 1875, when such fees have been advanced by the United States. The bill is supported by a representative of the Justice Department and a representative of the Judicial Conference of the United States. A representative of the American Bar Association generally supported the bill but expressed some reservations about the wording of the section pertaining to the taxation of attorney fees on employer-defendants who lose cases involving employee-plaintiffs wrongfully treated as a result of serving on a Federal jury. The American Bar Association representative also recommended that the bill be amended to eliminate the use of registered mail. The appendix includes material related to the mail savings estimate that can be expected from mailing juror summonses by regular first-class mail.