Reuters: Politics: California governor vetoes jury service for non-citizens

Reuters: Politics Reuters.com is your source for breaking news, business, financial and investing news, including personal finance and stocks. Reuters is the leading global provider of news, financial information and technology solutions to the world's media, financial institutions, businesses and individuals. // via fulltextrssfeed.com

California governor vetoes jury service for non-citizens Oct 8th 2013, 00:04 Share this Email Print Reprints By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO | Mon Oct 7, 2013 8:04pm EDT SACRAMENTO (Reuters) - California's Democratic governor vetoed a bill on Monday that would have allowed legal immigrants who are not citizens to serve on juries in the most populous U.S. state, saying such work was an obligation that went along with citizenship. The veto comes as California has rapidly expanded the rights of immigrants - both legal and undocumented - even as the U.S. Congress has so far failed to pass comprehensive immigration reform. "This bill would permit lawful permanent residents who are not citizens to serve on a jury," Governor Jerry Brown said. "I don't think that's right." No U.S. state currently allows non-citizens to serve on a jury, according to research by the state Assembly Judiciary Committee. The vetoed bill had been part of a broader effort to expand immigrant rights in strongly Democratic California, where Brown last week signed into law measures that would allow undocumented immigrants to both legally drive and practice law. The bill's sponsor, Democratic Assemblyman Bob Wieckowski, likened the rules disqualifying immigrants who are permanent residents from jury service to long-discarded laws that kept blacks and women from serving. "I don't see anything wrong with imposing this civic obligation on immigrants who can spend the rest of their lives in the United States," Wieckowski, who represents the San Francisco suburb of Fremont, said in a statement. "Lawful permanent immigrants are part of the fabric of our communities, and they benefit from the protections of our laws, so it is fair and just that they be asked to share in the obligation to do jury duty," he said. The bill drew strong opposition from Republicans in the legislature, even those who signed on to other immigration reforms, as well as from some moderate Democrats. Rocky Chavez, a Republican who represents part of San Diego County, said during debate on the measure that allowing non-citizens on juries could deprive defendants of their right to have their cases decided by a jury of their peers. "Not everywhere is innocent until proven guilty," Chavez said. "In some countries, it's guilty until proven innocent." Critics of the bill also said conferring rights and obligations such as jury service on people who are not citizens goes too far. "Serving on a jury is a responsibility best left up to the citizens who have pledged allegiance to the United States," said Republican Assemblyman Brian Jones, who represents part of San Diego County. (Reporting by Sharon Bernstein; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Lisa Shumaker) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions