Law and Race Commons^™

The Exclusion Of Non-English-Speaking Jurors: Remedying A Century Of Denial Of The Sixth Amendment In The Federal Courts Of Puerto Rico, Jasmine Gonzales Rose

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the constitutional implications of the Jury Selection and Service Act’s English language juror prerequisite, as applied in the federal courts in Puerto Rico. The language requirement results in the exclusion of approximately 90% of the age-eligible population of Puerto Rico from federal jury service and disproportionately excludes Puerto Ricans of color and the poor. The Article argues that application of the language requirement in Puerto Rico violates monolingual Spanish speakers’ fundamental Sixth Amendment right to a jury selected from a fair cross section of the community in federal criminal proceedings. It also examines the English language juror …