Has anyone received a jurror questionnaire?

[std]

Has anyone received a juror questionnaire while being on H1 visa or as PR? I have received it twice for the last two years and I am not a citizen. They say that they select people randomly based on the DMV and Voter Registration records. The DMV records make sense but Voter Registration. Any experience or ideas how to clarify this issue?

[baikal3]

The letter means exactly what it says: they take records from DMV and from Voter Registration rolls.
In your case they obviously got your name and address from DMV.

I did receive jury summons at some point when I was on H1.

Do not ignore the summons (even though you are not a U.S. citizen).
Send them back a letter with a copy of your passport title page and explain that you are not a citizen of the U.S. and thus cannot serve on a jury. [Your summons note should have some kind of instructions about what to do if you are ineligible to serve]


But, as I said, do not ignore the summons completely. If you do, then at some point a bench arrest warrant will be issued for ingoring the jury summons and you'll be in a more serious trouble then.

[AmericanWannabe]

Just say you are not a citizen on corressponding chekc box of the juror questionnnair and send it back.

Ignoring the questionnaire is illegal. Trying to be a juror
is also illegal if you are not a citizen (see below). I don't know
if this Australian was eventually deported or not


Australian in Hot Water for Voting in U.S.
June 25, 1998
CINCINNATI (Reuters) - In a country where the majority of eligible voters don't vote in most elections, an Australian immigrant has learned it can be a crime if you do vote. Michael Hull, 42, foreman for an asphalt company, could be sentenced to jail and deported for illegally voting in three U. S. elections, INS officials said Thursday.
He has pleaded no contest to the charges and is scheduled for sentencing July 9 in Clermont County Common Pleas Court at nearby Batavia, Ohio. Prosecutors did not say whether they would seek the maximum penalties.
Hull, a permanent resident alien whose wife is a U. S. citizen, said he made an initial mistake when he signed a voter registration form affirming he was a U. S. citizen when he registered his truck with the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles in early 1996. Since then he voted in two elections without being challenged until he was on jury duty last October and authorities noticed that he stated on a response form that he was not a U. S. citizen.
When that was brought to the attention of the Clermont County Board of Elections, county officials removed him from the voter list before the November 1997 election. lPrecinct voting officials allowed him to cast a challenged ballot in that election, but it was later disallowed by the Board of Elections.
"We fouled up by ever letting it get that far," a county elections official told Reuters. "His registration card should have been red-flagged from the outset because he said he was born in New Zealand."
Although Hull is a native of New Zealand, his family moved to the Australia when he was a child and he lived in that country until he immigrated to the United States.
Hull was at a construction job site Thursday and unavailable for comment. Peter Klekamp, his boss, told Reuters, "He is worried about what could happen and so are we. He has been an outstanding employee for us."
Eli Namanworth of Cincinnati, Hull's defense attorney, said "We should all be citizens as Michael is. I really can't say anything more because a man's right to this country is at stake.
"I consider it a sick irony in view of all the voter apathy in this country that this man faces the possibility of being deported because he did vote," Travis said. Ironically, in Australia the law requires citizens to vote in elections or face arrest.

[std]

Thanks for the replies. I forgot to say that I did not ignore the letters. I mark the box that I am not a citizen and sent them back, but what makes me wonder is that the letters continue to come.

[AmericanWannabe]

You can not prevent juror questionaaire from coming because
DMV records does not have a citizen flag. If the court only use
voter registration, they will bias jury selection process and
spare those citizen who do not register voting from jury duty.

I have been dreamed of becoming a juror because I want to
see how trials works and becoming a lawyer, judge, or prosecutos is out of teh question and it is stupid to become
a defendant. If the citizenship interview comes and INS asks me why I want to be natualized, I'll say I want to become a juror
and it is fun to have power to determine someone's freedom.

[Sba]

Here in CT, in addition to a non-citizen box,
there is one for legal permanent resident. They
give you an excemption of course, but ask your
A#.

I have always been amused at the first reason for
declining jury duty: "I am the Governor of this
state". Always felt like checking that!

[AmericanWannabe]

I think the reason is no defense want the governor
on the jury because the governor will always favor
government prosecutor.

I remember Bush as Texas governor once got a juror
summons. He managed to get way by saying he is the
governor. He did not want to those questions
at jury selection process (called de something) because
he had a drunk driving arrest records. We who
answered I-485 know how he felt.

[prime877]

current TX govener Rick Perry served on jury duty couple of months ago. i wonder what would happen if he served in OJSimpson's case and left office for a year.

as to earlier post, I recommend a "statue of limitation" on record. For an example, let drunk drive's limition be 5 years. if drunk drive happened 5 years ago, this record should be deemed non-existant and applicant could answer "NO" truthfully. Otherwise, those minor records will hunt a person for life. That is not good. Everyone makes mistake. I do not believe Bush will drunk and drive again. So why hold him forever on his old old drunk drive conviction? my company does background checkup before hiring. if found a theft conviction (20, 30, or 100 years ago), applicant would be denied. that is too much. you could not say a guy is a thief for life once he was a thief 30 years ago. Credit Report has limitation of 7 years. That is a good example. Otherwise, people never could get over with bankrupcy.

So first get citizenship and run for office and propose and vote for this "statue of limitation" law on record keeping. how does this sound? have fun.

[AmericanWannabe]

Expungement of criminal records is not really
expunged. It only means that for for a limited number of
reasons offenders can treat their expunged crimes as if they
never happen for certain reasons.

Usually government interview can ask for your expunged
records. The INS explicitly say applicants for immigration
benefits must disclose crimianl records even if they are
expunged.

I also believe if a court issue an expungement, it only
means those public records (court records) are
expunged (physically destroyed or sealed). Those records
stored in FBI, police records may not be expunged.

For this reason, unless you plan to not disclose your
expunged criminal records, it is not a good idea to
apply for expungement because you may have a very hard
times convincing the INS that you once commited a crime.