Why Chief Justice John Roberts was eligible for jury consideration

The Supreme Court justices have had some downtime recently, and the most-prominent jurist in the land had an interesting day on Wednesday in court as a prospective Maryland juror.

 

John Glover Roberts, Jr., in his day job, is Chief Justice of the United States of America. Not only does Roberts preside over the Supreme Court, he is the head of the federal judicial system.

 

In all, we’ve had 17 Chief Justices since 1789, compared with 44 U.S. Presidents, so it’s an important job and any judge in any legal system knows about Roberts.

 

So why was Roberts, who can ultimately help decide any legal case in America through the appeals process, asked to report for jury duty in Maryland?

 

There is nothing in the Constitution that would bar Roberts or any federal Article III judge from appearing as a potential juror in a state court. And the Sixth Amendment makes it possible for the accused to request a trial by jury, stating that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed.”

 

Under Maryland law, people can be excused from jury consideration if they can’t speak English, have a disability, have criminal charges pending, have a criminal record, belong to the active military, or are a current U.S. House or Senate member.

 

Roberts was qualified as a potential juror and he went to Rockville, Maryland, answered several questions for a traffic-accident case, and he wasn’t selected for the jury. (Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer were also called to jury duty in the past.)

 

And while it would be unusual for a Supreme Court Justice to sit on a jury, a President would cause even more problems, since Presidents have the power to pardon anyone convicted of a federal crime.

 

In January 2010, President Barack Obama was called for jury duty in Chicago, but he told the court he was unavailable because of his commitment to give the State of the Union address. Some criticized the President for not rearranging his schedule.

 

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, volunteered in 2005 to change his schedule to be available for jury service in Texas, but he wasn’t required to report.

 

But not all prominent federal government figures have gotten a pass on jury duty. Also back in 2005, U.S. Senator John Kerry was called back to Massachusetts for jury consideration. (There was no exclusion in that state’s law for U.S. Senate members.)

 

Not only was Kerry selected, he was named jury foreman in a traffic-accident case. Vice President Joe Biden also answered a jury summons in 2011.