Title 18, Crimes and Criminal ProcedureRelease 119-102
§243 Exclusion of Jurors on Account of Race or Color
Title 18 › PART I — CRIMES › CHAPTER 13 — CIVIL RIGHTS › § 243
Summary
People who meet the other legal requirements cannot be kept off federal or state juries because of their race, color, or past slavery. Officials who exclude or fail to summon someone for those reasons can be fined up to $5,000.
Full Legal Text
Title 18, §243
Crimes and Criminal Procedure, Source: USLM XML via OLRC
No citizen possessing all other qualifications which are or may be prescribed by law shall be disqualified for service as grand or petit juror in any court of the United States, or of any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude; and whoever, being an officer or other person charged with any duty in the selection or summoning of jurors, excludes or fails to summon any citizen for such cause, shall be fined not more than $5,000.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on section 44 of title 8, U.S.C., 1940 ed., Aliens and Nationality (Mar. 1, 1875, ch. 114, § 4, 18 Stat. 336). Words “be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and” were deleted as unnecessary in view of definition of misdemeanor in section 1 of this title. Words “on conviction thereof” were omitted as unnecessary, since punishment follows only after conviction. Minimum punishment provisions were omitted. (See reviser’s note under section 203 of this title.) Minor changes in phraseology were made.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
18 U.S.C. § 243
Title 18, Crimes and Criminal Procedure
Last Updated
Aug 21, 2026
Release point: 119-102