Sponsors (11)
The bill prohibits excluding prospective jurors based on sexual orientation or gender identity, improving jury representativeness and protections for LGBTQ+ people while likely generating some additional litigation and modest compliance costs for courts and attorneys.
LGBTQ+ individuals who are otherwise eligible will not be excluded from federal juries because of sexual orientation or gender identity, increasing the representativeness of federal juries.
Reduces the ability of attorneys to use discrimination-based strikes against prospective jurors, protecting the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals during jury selection.
More inclusive juries may bolster public confidence in the fairness of the federal justice system, especially among marginalized communities.
Parties may litigate the scope and application of the new prohibition on strikes, increasing court workload and litigation costs as courts resolve disputes.
Attorneys and court staff may face modest compliance costs for training and adjusting voir dire practices to align with the new rule.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced June 18, 2025 by Jeanne Shaheen · Last progress June 18, 2025
Prohibits excluding prospective federal jurors because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill changes federal jury-selection law to make it unlawful to strike or bar potential jurors on those grounds. The measure is short and narrowly focused: one provision amends the federal statute governing jury qualification and exclusion; another provision simply sets a short title. It does not specify new funding, deadlines, or detailed enforcement procedures.