A jury of none: an essay on the last acceptable form of civic banishment

摘要

Though many socio-legal scholars have criticized those measures that deny convicted felons the right to vote, few have challenged the statutes that withhold a convicted felon’s opportunity to sit on a jury. A majority of US jurisdictions bar felons from jury service permanently, creating a class of citizens defined and punished by the criminal justice system but unable to impact its function. This essay considers the invisibility of felon jury exclusion, notes its unlikely supporters, and asserts that by preventing convicted felons from taking part in civic processes, authorities work against reentry initiatives.