Tag: juror nondiscrimination act

Lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate recently introduced bills banning discrimination against prospective jurors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Last year, an American Independent investigation revealed numerous instances of likely discrimination against LGBT jurors in both state and federal courts.

A New Jersey congressman has introduced a bill that would ban attorneys in federal trials from removing potential jurors on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The bill, introduced May 18 by Democrat Steve Rothman, follows an American Independent investigation documenting numerous state and federal cases in which LGBT individuals may have been removed from juries based on their sexual orientation or gender identity — a practice that federal courts have repeatedly declined to prohibit.