Congress moves to end blanket jury exclusion for people with disabilities
H.R. 5096 — Disability and Age in Jury Service Nondiscrimination Act · Filed by Lateefah Simon (D-CA) · 16 cosponsors · Introduced Sep 2, 2025 · Referred to committee
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill amends federal jury-service law to prohibit courts from excluding people from jury duty based on disability or age. It requires courts to consider whether reasonable accommodations could enable a disabled person to serve, rather than automatically disqualifying them. The bill protects citizens with disabilities from blanket exclusion and ensures they have equal access to civic participation.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a nondiscrimination mandate protecting a class (people with disabilities) from categorical exclusion in a civic duty. It is a straightforward civil-rights amendment to jury-service law.
What the text implies
- Courts will need to develop reasonable-accommodation protocols for jury service, potentially requiring ASL interpreters, accessible facilities, modified jury instructions, or flexible scheduling — creating administrative and budgetary obligations for the federal judiciary.
- The shift from categorical 'infirmity' disqualification to individualized 'reasonable accommodation' assessment may increase voir dire complexity and litigation over what constitutes reasonable accommodation in specific cases.
The full analysis lists 3 implications of this text.
Who it affects
Citizens with disabilities gain a legal right to equal jury participation and protection from categorical exclusion. Courts must now assess accommodations individually rather than applying blanket bars, expanding civic participation and ensuring juries reflect the full community.