John Marshall Harlan II

“ It is claimed, in substance, that women jurors would have been more understanding or compassionate than men in assessing the quality of appellant's act and her defense of 'temporary insanity.' No claim is made that the jury as constituted was otherwise afflicted by any elements of supposed unfairness. ”

“ It is sufficiently evident from the record that the presence on the jury list of no more than ten or twelve women in the earlier years, and the failure to add in 1957 more women to those already on the list, are attributable not to any discriminatory motive, but to a purpose to put on the list only those women who might be expected to be qualified for service if actually called. ”

“ Appellant argues that whatever may have been the design of this Florida enactment, the statute in practical operation results in an exclusion of women from jury service, because women, like men, can be expected to be available for jury service only under compulsion. ”

“ Finally, the disproportion of women to men on the list independently carries no constitutional significance. In the administration of the jury laws proportional class representation is not a constitutionally required factor. ”

“ There is present here neither the unfortunate atmosphere of ethnic or racial prejudices which underlay the situations depicted in those cases, nor the long course of discriminatory administrative practice which the statistical showing in each of them evinced. ”

“ Fla.Stat., 1959, § 40.08, F.S.A.↑ Under Fla.Stat., 1959, § 40.12, F.S.A., every person claiming an exemption, other than as provided with respect to women in § 40.01 (1) , must file, annually, before December 31 with the clerk of the circuit court an affidavit of exemption and the grounds on which such claim is based. The affidavit is forwarded to the jury commissioners, who, if the affidavit is found sufficient, then omit the affiant from the jury list for the succeeding calendar year. ”

“ Notes
↑ Jurors must be: 'persons over the age of twenty-one years, who are citizens of this state, and who have resided in the state for one year and in their respective counties for six months, and who are duly qualified electors of their respective counties * * *.'↑ From the First Judiciary Act of 1789, § 29, 1 Stat. ”