HB 1247 – AS INTRODUCED
2012 SESSION
09/04
HOUSE BILL 1247
AN ACT relative to the duties of jurors as constitutional officers and changing the term “petit jury” to “trial jury.”
SPONSORS: Rep. Kingsbury, Belk 4
This bill recognizes that jurors are constitutional officers, changes the juror’s oath to that contained in part 2, article 84 of the New Hampshire constitution, requires the court to inform jurors that statutes are guidelines and may be disregarded by jurors, and changes the term “petit jury” to “trial jury.”
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
12-2792
09/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve
AN ACT relative to the duties of jurors as constitutional officers and changing the term “petit jury” to “trial jury.”
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 New Section; Duties of Jurors as Constitutional Officers; Instructions to Jurors. Amend RSA 500-A by inserting after section 20 the following new section:
500-A:21 Duties of Jurors as Constitutional Officers; Instructions to Jurors.
I. As constitutional officers, jurors:
(a) Shall consider statutes as guidelines and only guidelines to be used in determining case law.
(b) May ask the court for more evidence regarding the facts of a case. The court shall comply with all such requests.
(c) May decide that a statute is unconstitutional.
II. The court shall inform the jury that:
(a) Statutes are guidelines and guidelines only and that the jury may apply any given statute to the case under consideration only to the degree that the jurors determine is appropriate for the case under consideration.
(b) The jury may disregard any statute which the jury finds is not appropriate for the case.
(c) The jury may decide that any statute is unconstitutional.
(d) Jurors decide the penalties of the case. The court shall tell the jurors that they may decide according to their judgment of the case, that either lesser penalties than the statute states or more severe penalties than the statute states should apply. The penalties may include the death penalty.
2 Oath of Jurors; Civil Cases. RSA 500-A:18 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
500-A:18 Oath.
I. The oath to be administered to jurors in civil and criminal cases shall be the oath prescribed in part 2, article 84 of the New Hampshire constitution as follows:
(a) I, A.B. do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the United States of America and the state of New Hampshire, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.
(b) I, A.B. do solemnly and sincerely swear and affirm that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent on me as _________________________, according to the best of my abilities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this constitution and laws of the state of New Hampshire. So help me God.
II. If any person selected as a juror is of a denomination called Quakers or is scrupulous of swearing, and declines to take the oath, the person shall take and subscribe the oath, omitting the words “swear” and “so help me God”, substituting in place thereof, “affirm” and “this I do under the pains and penalties of perjury.”
3 Oath of Jurors; Criminal Cases. RSA 606:2 is repealed and reenacted to read as follows:
606:2 Oath.
I. The oath to be administered to jurors in civil and criminal cases shall be the oath prescribed in part 2, article 84 of the New Hampshire constitution as follows:
(a) I, A.B. do solemnly swear, that I will bear faith and true allegiance to the United States of America and the state of New Hampshire, and will support the constitution thereof. So help me God.
(b) I, A.B. do solemnly and sincerely swear and affirm that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent on me as ________________________, according to the best of my abilities, agreeably to the rules and regulations of this constitution and laws of the state of New Hampshire. So help me God.
II. If any person selected as a juror is of a denomination called Quakers or is scrupulous of swearing, and declines to take the oath, the person shall take and subscribe the oath, omitting the words “swear” and “so help me God”, substituting in place thereof, “affirm” and “this I do under the pains and penalties of perjury.”
4 “Petit” Changed to “Trial.” The term “petit” shall be amended to read as “trial” in the following RSA provisions: 91-A:5, I; 500-A:8; 500-A:9, IV; 500-A:15, I; 600:2; 606:1; and 651:8.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2013.