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Essay On The Pros And Cons Of A Grand Jury

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A grand jury is used in the federal legal system to decide if someone should be indicted for a crime. A selected group of sixteen to twenty-three citizens assemble and are given the task of investigating potential criminal activity. The prosecuting attorney is the presider of a grand jury and will present the case and the evidence. The grand jury is presented with evidence such as documents, witnesses, and physical evidence. They can also issue subpoenas for sworn testimonies and more evidence. A grand jury is more secretive and the rules of evidence do not apply in the same way as a trial jury. No one is allowed to reveal anything that happened in the jury room. Grand juries are not opened to the public or to the press. Witnesses are not …show more content…

A grand jury is made up of people in the community. The grand jury pool is the first group of potential jurors. It consists of all people living in that community in the court’s jurisdiction who are eligible. In order to be considered eligible to participate in federal grand jury, the person must be a U.S. citizen and over the age of 18. The jurors must also be able to speak fluent English and be able to fill out a selection questionnaire. They also must have no prior or pending felony charges or convictions on record. From there, the court will pick the grand juror candidates at random from the grand jury pool. The clerk of courts will then identify the chosen candidates from public records.
Once the prospective jurors have been chosen, the clerk of the court will provide them with a questionnaire that must be completed in order potential juror. This will help determine if the person is eligible to serve. From the selection that is able and eligible, the court will randomly choose them serve as a juror. The selected juror will receive a summons to appear for grand jury duty on scheduled dates and times.
The chosen jurors are then able to request an exemption from serving, but only for certain reasons. Generally, if a juror holds a public safety job, such as a doctor or policeman, or is an active member of the armed forces, they can be excused. Also, if a juror is over a certain age

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