Sponsors (17)
Introduced September 2, 2025 by Lateefah Simon · Last progress September 2, 2025
The bill expands access to federal jury service for people with disabilities and clarifies how courts should evaluate accommodation requests, at the expense of some added costs and administrative burdens for courts and jurisdictions.
People with disabilities gain the right to serve on federal grand and petit juries when reasonable accommodations allow, expanding civic participation and reducing exclusion from juries.
Federal courts and jury administrators receive clearer statutory guidance for evaluating accommodation requests, reducing arbitrary exclusions and standardizing decisions across jurisdictions.
Courts and jurisdictions may incur administrative and financial costs to provide reasonable accommodations (e.g., assistive devices, staff, or accessible spaces), which could increase local and federal expenditures.
Determining and implementing accommodations could slow jury selection and add workload for court staff, potentially delaying proceedings and increasing administrative burden.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Bars disability‑based exclusion from federal jury service and prevents disqualification when reasonable accommodation would enable qualification.
Amends federal jury service law to prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities and to stop disqualifying potential jurors when a disability could be reasonably accommodated. It requires that a person not be barred from federal jury service on account of disability if reasonable accommodation would make them qualified. Also establishes an official short title for the act. The bill makes no funding changes or deadlines and changes only the statutory standards for juror qualification and disqualification related to disability.