§1867 Challenging Compliance with Selection Procedures

Summary

A defendant, the U.S. Attorney General, or a party in a civil case can ask a court to pause or end a case if the jury was not picked according to the rules. In criminal cases, the defendant or the Attorney General can move to dismiss the charges or stay the case before juror questioning starts, or within seven days after they knew or should have known about the problem, whichever comes first. In civil cases, any party can move to stay the case before juror questioning starts, or within seven days after they knew or should have known. The motion must include a sworn statement of facts. The mover may use testimony from the jury office, nonpublic records used in selection, and other evidence. If the court finds a major failure in choosing a grand jury, it must either pause the case until a proper grand jury is chosen or dismiss the charges. If the petit (trial) jury was badly chosen, the court must pause the case until a proper petit jury is chosen. These rules are the only way to challenge jury selection in these federal cases, though other discrimination remedies still apply. Records used by the jury office stay confidential until the master jury wheel has been emptied and refilled under section 1863(b)(4) and those jurors finish serving; parties may inspect and copy those records when preparing or pursuing a motion. Anyone who improperly reveals them can be fined up to $1,000, jailed up to one year, or both.