I am trying to find some information about the statistics and articles
regarding the attendance to jury duty for people who have been
diagnosed with schizophrenia in the USA. I am curious about this
subject and articles talking about this, both professionally and/or
personal accounts.

Note: while searching google, I hardly came upon articles referring to
people having been diagnosed with schizophrenia and serving on jury
duty, instead, most of the links deal with the schizophrenia as being
a topic within court cases than of the actual jurors involved in
cases.

I am interested in finding information in regard to the possible
influence that may be associated with schizophrenia and its connection
to personal judgement and impartiality in the selection of juror
candidates selected for jury duty, and/or if this is an issue in the
possible selection of such candidates.

If you have information related to this subject, regarding other
mental disabilities, I would be interested in such analysis talking
about this subject, but the main priority in my question is dealing
with the subject of schizophrenia specifically, and/or schizophrenia
related conditions.

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Request for Question Clarification by umiat-ga on 15 Oct 2005 21:04 PDT

Hello, agathos-ga,
 
 This is certainly an interesting question. However, everything I have
run across excuses individuals suffering from mental illness from
serving on a jury and there seems to be a screening process which
identifies such individuals.

"Eligibility requirements screen out certain groups of people (like
ex-convicts and the mentally ill), and anyone who can state a hardship
is usually excused from jury duty."
http://faculty.ncwc.edu/toconnor/325/325lect08.htm


You may be excused from jury service if: 
 You are permanently physically or mentally ill and have a doctor or
psychiatrist provide the clerk an affidavit requesting your excusal
from jury service for this purpose.
http://www.libertyco.com/jury_service_information.htm
 
"There is no upper age limit, but you must be physically and mentally
able to serve." http://phoenix.gov/COURT/jury_faq.html

Who, by law, may not serve on a jury? (Canada)
 "persons afflicted with a mental disability or mental illness"
http://www.justice.gouv.qc.ca/english/publications/generale/jure-a.htm

 Do you have a reason to suspect that, in some instances,
schizophrenic individuals have actually slipped through the screening
process and performed jury duty?

umiat

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Clarification of Question by agathos-ga on 15 Oct 2005 21:56 PDT

I found this from the State of Georgia:

Jurors with Disabilities

A trial court acted properly to exclude a juror with a mental
disability when the juror acted in a "bizarre" manner before voir dire
questioning and answered questions in a "disconnected and rambling"
way. The appellant's evidence that a bailiff had never seen a person
in a wheelchair in a Bacon County jury was not sufficient to establish
that people with disabilities were specifically excluded from jury
service. (Sallie v. Georgia, 276 Ga. 506, 578 S.E.2d 444 (2003))


A trial court did not abuse its discretion by refusing defense counsel
the opportunity to question the entire jury panel on voir dire
regarding whether they had been treated for mental illness. Because
mental illness is not a disqualification for jury service, the court
could limit the questioning of the entire panel. However, the court
could allow an attorney to ask questions about mental illness if
concerns arose about the health of an individual juror. (Caldwell v.
Georgia, 249 Ga. App. 885, 549 S.E.2d 449 (2001))

it is from the following URL:

http://www.georgiacourts.org/agencies/gcafc/handbook_appendixe.html

I am thinking that The American's with Disabilities Act might play a
part for the statement aboving saying that mental illness is not an
automatic disqualification for jury duty. But as it also says above in
the first paragraph, "acting in a bizarre manner" may be a reason for
disqualification.

But it also says this:

Jurors with Disabilities

A judge may excuse a potential juror who "shows other good cause why
he or she should be exempt from jury duty," which can include a
disability. A judge may defer the excuse until a later date unless the
juror has a permanent mental or physical disability. (O.C.G.A.
§15-12-1(a)(1))

Am looking for more information like this. Am curious if this applies
state wide as well as nationally in USA, or if this is just a
particular case in a certain state. Americans with Disabilities Act
being federal, so am thinking that it may have influence at the state
level, in USA.

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Clarification of Question by agathos-ga on 15 Oct 2005 22:09 PDT

I wanted to add something, I noticed that in our state, there are
three questions on the form for registering for jury duty. One
question is if the person has a mental disability, The second is if
the person is of sound mind, and the third is if the person has been
declared legally incompetent, as there can be individuals who have a
mental disbility, but are legally competent, and still have the right
to vote.

The link above has some provisions regarding the ADA - Americans with
Disabilities Act, which I did not post.

Hopefully there is moreinformation on this.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 18 Oct 2005 07:40 PDT

Are you most interested in this topic from the perspective of Georgia
state law and practice?  Or is it another state that you are focusing
on?


pafalafa-ga

Agathos,
You and Umiat have already found quite a bit of information, all
pointing in the same direction:  that a schizophrenic person would
either not be eligible for jury duty or could be challenged for cause.
 I can imagine that all other legal discussions go the same way.
As to whether a schizophrenic has ever been a juror, the question is
one of those that is almost impossible to answer  - proving the
negative.
Furthermore, if one had been, it seems very unlikely that the fact
would have been known at the trial, so there would be no record of it.
 Perhaps someone might later discover the fact, even evidence of
medical treatment prior to the case, but such an interest would
probably only relate to an important trial, one in which lawyers would
have challenged such a juror.  In the much greater number of less
important jury trials, no one would be reviewing the case after it
closed.
But it sure is an interesting question and could be the basis for a
good legal novel, the discovery leading to a retrial or ...
Myoarin

As someone who recently served on a U.S. federal jury in a criminal
case, I can assure you there was no screening for mental illness.  The
only screening was asking us questions about issues related to the
case (e.g. gun control) which we could answer or not answer because we
were asked in a large group.

There might be some background screening that eliminates persons
without their noticing.  And the supposedly unbiased selection of
persons for the jury list may in some places not be unbiased.  My
immigrant, naturalized parents wondered that they were never over
decades called for jury duty.