Letters: Jury service, not just for citizens?

Re “Bill would put noncitizens on jury duty,” Aug. 23

So Sacramento is proposing that noncitizens may sit in judgment in jury trials. How avant-garde of our legislators.

Presumably these newfound jurists would be required to demonstrate English proficiency and a basic understanding of civics, or would that be too conservative a thought?

But wait: I have a better idea.

Why not just conduct all our trials where there are more people available to serve as jurists, say, for instance, in India? There are plenty of almost-English-speaking customer service reps there, and maybe we could get some lawyers there to serve as judges. Further, we’d no longer have to provide those expensive courtrooms.

After all, we sure know how to outsource labor, so how hard could it be to outsource our justice system?

I’ve always considered myself a liberal and have regularly voted for Democrats. But if this utter nonsense continues, I’ll have to sue the Legislature, demanding that lawmakers release their formula for happy dust.

Mike Harvey
Irvine

A defendant is to be judged “by a jury of his peers.”

We certainly try non-citizens in front of juries every day. I see no reason that “peers” could not include noncitizens, if they are here legally and meet the same standards required of other jurors.

Noncitizens are protected by the same Constitution, and are certainly welcome in my book to share some of the responsibilities.

Patrick A. Mauer
Pasadena

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