08-15-2011, 09:37 AM
I understand what you’re saying, but the law doesn’t work that way. They are required to call jurors based on the court's jurisdiction. That means the entire County of Hawaii. To change that, you need to have the people of the entire state make a constitutional change to the Hawaii Constitution. Until that is done, the courts hands are tied and they don’t have the authority to make up rules as they see fit.
One thing to remember, although the law allows an exemption for a juror who lives beyond the mile limit, nothing in the law automatically exempts you. You are basically applying for and the court is granting an exemption ("hardship/economical" basis) based on distance. But you as the juror can decide you still want to participate and you don’t have to request that exemption. To a defense attorney, it's the difference between excluding a pool of peers versus granting exemptions to individual based on distance to the venue. If you start excluding peers, a defense attorney will not rest until they are before the US Supreme Court (which they have). But, granting individual exemptions based on the hardship of travel and attending, is well within the courts domain.
One thing to remember, although the law allows an exemption for a juror who lives beyond the mile limit, nothing in the law automatically exempts you. You are basically applying for and the court is granting an exemption ("hardship/economical" basis) based on distance. But you as the juror can decide you still want to participate and you don’t have to request that exemption. To a defense attorney, it's the difference between excluding a pool of peers versus granting exemptions to individual based on distance to the venue. If you start excluding peers, a defense attorney will not rest until they are before the US Supreme Court (which they have). But, granting individual exemptions based on the hardship of travel and attending, is well within the courts domain.
