Author Topic: SCOTUS, Jury Trials, Diplomatic Immunity: Legal Eagles?  (Read 616 times)

AZRedhawk44

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SCOTUS, Jury Trials, Diplomatic Immunity: Legal Eagles?
« on: December 27, 2010, 04:54:21 PM »
So, I was googling around and looking for numbers on exactly how many times the US Supreme Court had actually utilized a Jury in any proceedings before it.  That John Jay tidbit in the Montana Juror thread got me curious.

I stumbled across this:

Quote
U.S. CONST. art. III, § 2: "In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction."

I thought that Ambassadors could exercise diplomatic immunity.

Who would have jurisdiction to DRAG an ambassador before SCOTUS?

Or would an ambassador have free rein to go on a knifing spree until SCOTUS was somehow notified and issued a bench warrant?

And... does anyone know how many times SCOTUS has selected a jury for a trial?  That would be quite a privilege to be part of, methinks.
« Last Edit: December 27, 2010, 05:05:01 PM by AZRedhawk44 »
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Regolith

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Re: SCOTUS, Jury Trials, Diplomatic Immunity: Legal Eagles?
« Reply #1 on: December 28, 2010, 02:20:57 AM »
Maybe they mean US Ambassadors rather than foreign ones? As in, if one of our ambassadors does something illegal while at a US embassy, the Supreme Court gets jurisdiction over the case.

Just a guess.

Edit: Or perhaps they get jurisdiction when the ambassador's host country waves diplomatic immunity for the ambassador.  Or both.
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