What's happening
This bill allows anyone aged 70 or older in New York to be excused from jury duty upon request, without showing hardship.
Why it matters
Expands personal choice for older adults. This bill empowers New Yorkers aged 70 and above to opt out of jury duty simply by request, affirming their autonomy without requiring them to disclose or prove hardship, incapacity, or inconvenience.
Reduces administrative burden. By removing the need for older adults to provide documentation or justification for excusal, the bill streamlines the jury management process for both potential jurors and court administrators.
Could impact jury pool diversity. Allowing blanket excusal for this age group may reduce age diversity in juries, potentially affecting the perspectives represented in deliberations and the perceived representativeness of the jury system.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Excuse Seniors from Jury Duty
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to judiciary
- Referred to judiciary
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3597
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. SCHIMMINGER -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the judiciary law, in relation to optional excusal from jury service for persons age 70 and over
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision (a) of section 517 of the judiciary law is amended by adding a new paragraph 3 to read as follows:
(3) An application for excusal from the whole of the time of jury service shall be granted hereunder upon the request of any person who is seventy years of age or over made to the commissioner of jurors, without any need to show mental or physical incapacity, undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to the applicant.
§ 2. Subdivision (c) of section 517 of the judiciary law, as amended by chapter 86 of the laws of 1995, is amended to read as follows:
(c) [In] Except as provided in paragraph three of subdivision (a) of this section, in determining whether an application for excusal should be granted, the commissioner or the court shall consider whether the applicant has a mental or physical condition that causes him or her to be incapable of performing jury service or there is any other fact which indicates that attendance for jury service in accordance with the summons would cause undue hardship or extreme inconvenience to the applicant, a person under his or her care or supervision, or the public. Except as provided in paragraph two of subdivision (a) of this section, in determining whether an application for postponement should be granted, the commissioner or the court shall be guided by standards promulgated by the chief administrator of the courts.
§ 3. This act shall take effect on the first of September next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03840-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.