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S. 250Senate116th Congress (2019-2021)In Committee

Jury ACCESS Act

A bill to amend title 28, United States Code, to prohibit the exclusion of individuals from service on a Federal jury on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Also known as Jury Access for Capable Citizens and Equality in Service Selection Act of 2019

Sponsored by Jeanne ShaheenSen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
Introduced January 29, 2019

AI-Generated Summary

Updated April 14, 2026 at 12:55 AM UTC

The Jury ACCESS Act would change federal law to forbid excluding anyone from serving on a United States federal jury because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. By updating the language in the jury‑selection statute, the bill aims to ensure that all eligible citizens can be considered for jury duty regardless of these characteristics.

Key Provisions

  • Amends 28 U.S.C. § 1862 to add the words “sexual orientation, gender identity” after the existing term “sex,” making discrimination on those bases illegal in federal jury selection.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action
SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

January 29, 2019

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

January 29, 2019

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Judiciary Committee

January 29, 2019

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued January 29, 2019

II

116th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 250

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

January 29, 2019

Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Ms. Collins, Ms. Baldwin, Ms. Cortez Masto, Ms. Duckworth, Ms. Harris, Mr. Markey, Mrs. Murray, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Carper, Mrs. Gillibrand, and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend title 28, United States Code, to prohibit the exclusion of individuals from service on a Federal jury on account of sexual orientation or gender identity.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Jury Access for Capable Citizens and Equality in Service Selection Act of 2019 or the Jury ACCESS Act.

2.

Exclusion from Federal juries on account of sexual orientation or gender identity prohibited

Section 1862 of title 28, United States Code, is amended by inserting sexual orientation, gender identity, after sex,.