Sec. 1869. Definitions
For purposes of this chapter -
- (a) ''clerk'' and ''clerk of the court'' shall mean the
clerk
of the district court of the United States, any authorized deputy
clerk, and any other person authorized by the court to assist the
clerk in the performance of functions under this chapter;
- (b) ''chief judge'' shall mean the chief judge of any
district court of the United States;
- (c) ''voter registration lists'' shall mean the official
records maintained by State or local election officials of
persons
registered to vote in either the most recent State or the
most recent
Federal general election, or, in the case of a State
or political
subdivision thereof that does not require
registration as a prerequisite
to voting, other official lists of
persons qualified to vote in such
election. The term shall also
include the list of eligible voters
maintained by any Federal
examiners pursuant to the Voting Rights Act of
1965 where the
names on such list have not been included on the official
registration lists or other official lists maintained by the
appropriate State or local officials. With respect to the
districts of
Guam and the Virgin Islands, ''voter registration
lists'' shall mean the
official records maintained by territorial
election officials of persons
registered to vote in the most
recent territorial general election;
- (d) ''lists of actual voters'' shall mean the official lists
of
persons actually voting in either the most recent State or the
most
recent Federal general election;
- (e) ''division'' shall mean: (1) one or more statutory
divisions of a judicial district; or (2) in statutory divisions
that
contain more than one place of holding court, or in judicial
districts
where there are no statutory divisions, such counties,
parishes, or
similar political subdivisions surrounding the
places where court is held
as the district court plan shall
determine: Provided, That each county,
parish, or similar
political subdivision shall be included in some such
division;
- (f) ''district court of the United States'', ''district
court'', and ''court'' shall mean any district court established
by
chapter 5 of this
title, and any court which is created by Act
of Congress in a territory
and is invested with any jurisdiction
of a district court established by
chapter 5 of this
title;
- (g) ''jury wheel'' shall include any device or system
similar
in purpose or function, such as a properly programed electronic
data processing system or device;
- (h) ''juror qualification form'' shall mean a form
prescribed
by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and
approved by the Judicial Conference of the United States, which
shall
elicit the name, address, age, race, occupation, education,
length of
residence within the judicial district, distance from
residence to place
of holding court, prior jury service, and
citizenship of a potential
juror, and whether he should be
excused or exempted from jury service, has
any physical or mental
infirmity impairing his capacity to serve as juror,
is able to
read, write, speak, and understand the English language, has
pending against him any charge for the commission of a State or
Federal criminal offense punishable by imprisonment for more than
one
year, or has been convicted in any State or Federal court of
record of a
crime punishable by imprisonment for more than one
year and has not had
his civil rights restored. The form shall
request, but not require, any
other information not inconsistent
with the provisions of this title and
required by the district
court plan in the interests of the sound
administration of
justice. The form shall also elicit the sworn statement
that his
responses are true to the best of his knowledge. Notarization
shall not be required. The form shall contain words clearly
informing
the person that the furnishing of any information with
respect to his
religion, national origin, or economic status is
not a prerequisite to his
qualification for jury service, that
such information need not be
furnished if the person finds it
objectionable to do so, and that
information concerning race is
required solely to enforce
nondiscrimination in jury selection
and has no bearing on an individual's
qualification for jury
service.
- (i) ''public officer'' shall mean a person who is either
elected to public office or who is directly appointed by a person
elected to public office;
- (j) ''undue hardship or extreme inconvenience'', as a
basis for
excuse from immediate jury service under section 1866(c)(1) of
this chapter, shall mean great distance, either in miles or
traveltime, from the place of holding court, grave illness in the
family or any other emergency which outweighs in immediacy and
urgency the obligation to serve as a juror when summoned, or any
other factor which the court determines to constitute an undue
hardship or to create an extreme inconvenience to the juror; and
in
addition, in situations where it is anticipated that a trial
or grand
jury proceeding may require more than thirty days of
service, the court
may consider, as a further basis for temporary
excuse, severe economic
hardship to an employer which would
result from the absence of a key
employee during the period of
such service;
- (k) ''publicly draw'', as referred to in sections 1864 and
1866
of this chapter, shall mean a drawing which is conducted within
the district after reasonable public notice and which is open to
the
public at large under the supervision of the clerk or jury
commission,
except that when a drawing is made by means of
electronic data
processing, ''publicly draw'' shall mean a
drawing which is conducted at
a data processing center located in
or out of the district, after
reasonable public notice given in
the district for which juror names are
being drawn, and which is
open to the public at large under such
supervision of the clerk
or jury commission as the Judicial Conference
of the United
States shall by regulation require; and
(l) ''jury
summons'' shall mean a summons issued by a clerk of
court, jury
commission, or their duly designated deputies,
containing either a
preprinted or stamped seal of court, and
containing the name of the
issuing clerk imprinted in preprinted,
type, or facsimile manner on the
summons or the envelopes
transmitting the summons.
[Updates |
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