Blasphemy by 'blog

b1-66er: "In an unprecedented move, Disney parks will remain closed until further notice"

Special K: Unhappiest place on earth. 

b1-66er: Special K!

Better get the judiciary caulk

b1-66er: (I think) an interesting legal question for you...

Let's say a federal grand jury is called...

... but the state you draw in forbids assembly of 10 people...

What happens,  legally?

 What's the correct public decision for how to behave?

D4rw1n: Legally you would be in an unprecedented situation if state law or municipal ordinance required you to stay home, and a federal grand jury summons required you to serve

Analogous situations have arisen. The applicable law provides an excuse from grand jury service if you can make a showing of "undue hardship or extreme inconvenience"

So the prospective juror in your case could declined to serve, and offer evidence that doing so would subject him or her to prosecution (or, more likely, citation) under state or local law

b1-66er: Super great. 

Extremely interesting. 

One of the things that's interesting in Pandemic World are the seams on the legal highway as you cross from federal into state territory. 

Thank you. 

D4: What you really want to know, is what happens if the judge is a hardass and refuses to excuse the jurors just because they are afraid they will get tickets for gathering in a group of 16 to 23 (which is by rule the size of a federal grand jury)?

66: What say you?

D4: If it ever did come up, I would expect the higher courts to issue an injunction in favor of the jurors, prohibiting the judge from impaneling the grand jury and endangering their health

Federal law would empower the judge to require service. But I would anticipate lawsuits by the jurors against the federal judiciary and the judge. It seems to me that the proper grounds would not be violation of state law, but rather physical endangerment. For this reason I don't think the case will come up, because the judges are too interested in self-preservation to create such a crisis

66: Yes. 

It's hard to imagine any legal system that would say,  "I'm sorry but you must put your arm in the running saw blade."

D4: Exactly. There may be a judge or two who will, but in the end the courts know that they run only if citizens serve their duty. Hard for the whole system to maintain its legitimacy if they start thinking that could make people put their arms in saws all the time

b1-67er: The lawyer next door said all but serious felony cases have been postponed in Monterey County. But it's being treated as a holiday, so the days don't count against statute of limitations.  I imagine that's a thorny issue.