The Cosmos court also discussed the broader ramifications of equating violations of juror qualification statutes with constitutional deprivations:

If defeated parties were in all cases to be permitted to move for new trials on such grounds that a juror . . . is lacking in any [] of the several technical qualifications which do not affect his intelligence, and fairness, no judgment would ever be safe from attack . . .


Addressing specifically the felon-juror question, federal appellate courts have determined that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of an impartial jury does not mandate reversal every time a felon serves on a jury.4 The court’s analysis in United States v. Boney (Boney I), 977 F.2d 624, 633 (D.C. Cir. 1992), is instructive:

A per se rule would be appropriate . . . only if one could reasonably conclude that felons are always biased against one party or another. But felon status, alone, does not necessarily imply bias. In fact, . . . Congress’ purpose in restricting felons’ jury service may stem from considerations other than a concern for biased jurors.

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