Is Jury Selection Only For Registered Vorers?

Topic:
CRIME VICTIMS; JUDICIAL Department; JURIES; LEGISLATION; LEGISLATIVE INTENT;
Location:
JURIES;

OLR Research Report


August 21, 2008		2008-R-0469
JURY Pick Puddle AND EXEMPTIONS

Past: Christopher Reinhart, Senior Attorney

You lot asked (i) why the law was expanded to require the Judicial Co-operative to use multiple lists to compile its jury selection pool and (2) whether any states exempt tearing crime victims from jury service.

SUMMARY

Connecticut ' s police on how the jury administrator creates a master file for summoning jurors has inverse over the years. The most significant modify in contempo years came in 1996. PA 06-179 expanded the lists of people used to make up the jury pool to include motor vehicle owners, state personal income taxpayers, and public assistance and unemployment compensation recipients, in add-on to the registered voters and licensed motor vehicle operators previously required by law.

The legislative history of the 1996 alter indicates that it was intended to aggrandize the jury pool. Considering the process of compiling the master file was limited to registered voters and licensed motor vehicle operators at the fourth dimension, some legislators argued that it left out a significant part of the population. Legislators stated that using more lists would provide a more representative group of people for the jury puddle.

The law has changed several times since 1996, including in 1997 when PA 97-200 fabricated some changes to the procedure and removed two lists from the process of compiling the master file. Connecticut law currently requires the jury ambassador to create the master file from voter, licensed driver, unemployment compensation recipient, and state personal income taxpayer lists (CGS � 51-222a).

Under Connecticut law, sure people are disqualified or exempt from serving on a jury. Connecticut police does not exempt tearing crime victims from jury service.

We just institute one state with a law that exempts some law-breaking victims. Pennsylvania ' s law exempts spouses, children, siblings, parents, grandparents, and grandchildren of criminal homicide victims (42 Pa.C.Due south. � 4503). Attached are two documents comparing exemptions from jury service in the 50 states (Bureau of Justice Statistics, Country Court Organization 2004; Anne Skove, National Center for State Courts, Jury Management, Exemptions from Jury Duty Memorandum, May 2, 2006).

CONNECTICUT JURY SELECTION PROCESS

Compiling the Jury Pool List

In one case a year, the jury administrator estimates the number of jurors each judicial district will need for the upcoming year. Among other factors, she considers the number of judges assigned to jury trials, the type of cases that will come to trial during the menstruation, and the past experiences of the courts (CGS � 51-219b). The administrator divides the number of jurors proportionally amidst the state ' s 169 towns co-ordinate to each town ' s population from the most recent U.Southward. census (CGS � 51-220).

The jury administrator creates a jury pool listing from voter, licensed driver, unemployment compensation recipient, and state personal income taxpayer lists. The administrator annually combines the lists, deleting duplicate names where possible so that names merely appear once. Jurors are selected at random from the list to see the court system ' s needs (CGS � 51-222a). The random selection system gives each person on the list the same probability of beingness selected as every other person.

The jury administrator may arrange the number of jurors from each town within a judicial district if the number is too low or too high. She apportions the modify amongst all of the towns within the judicial district in proportion to the boondocks populations when possible (CGS � 51-219c).

The master courtroom ambassador tin can qualify the jury administrator to use the previous year ' s master file to summon jurors if the new i is unavailable or lacking (CGS � 51-222a(d)).

People Disqualified From Jury Service

Jurors must be at least historic period 18 and electors or U.S. citizens who are residents with a home in the state. A person is disqualified from jury service if he:

1. has a quality (just non deafness or hearing impairment) that the approximate finds impairs his capacity to serve as a juror;

ii. had a felony conviction in the past seven years, is a defendant in a pending felony example, or is in the custody of the correction commissioner;

3. cannot speak and understand English;

4. is a ramble officeholder;

5. is a family support magistrate or guess of the probate court, Superior Court, Appellate Courtroom, Supreme Court, or federal courtroom;

six. is a member of the General Assembly while in session;

7. is historic period 70 or older and chooses non to perform jury service; or

8. is incapable of rendering satisfactory jury service due to physical or mental disability (with a letter of the alphabet from a licensed physician stating his stance) (CGS � 51-217).

The jury administrator may alibi a person for farthermost hardship (CGS � 51-217(b)). She tin also cancel jury service for practiced cause, including when (1) the called juror ' due south boondocks of residence is switched to a different judicial district than the i to which he or she was originally chosen and (2) in that location is a reduced need for jurors. If jury service is canceled for the latter reason, the jury administrator must excuse people on a random basis (CGS � 51-219a).

Exclusions from the Summoning Process

The jury administrator is authorized to create and maintain a listing of people to be excluded from the juror summoning process. The list must include (1) people permanently butterfingers from jury duty because of a disability, (2) people age seventy or older who inquire not to exist summoned, (3) constitutional officers and judges during their terms of role, and (4) those who have performed jury service within the past three years and accept not submitted a request to be summoned. The law disqualifies these people from jury service. Anyone who is requesting an exclusion considering he or she is permanently disabled or age 70 or older must give the jury administrator his or her name, address, date of birth, and federal Social Security number for use in matching names. A disabled person must also submit a letter from a licensed doctor stating that the inability is permanent and prevents him or her from giving satisfactory jury service. A person tin can rescind a request to be excluded at any time by written notice to the jury administrator (CGS � 51-217(c)).

The constitutional officers are the governor, lieutenant governor, secretarial assistant of the state, treasurer, comptroller, and attorney general. Judges include family unit support magistrates and judges of the Supreme, Appellate, Superior, or probate courts.

Likewise, the public health commissioner must annually give the jury administrator the nigh recent listing of deceased people. The ambassador tin can remove these names from the jury puddle and too remove the names of other deceased people if the public health commissioner provides the death certificates or other satisfactory proof (CGS � 51-219a(d)).

Exemptions for Previous Service

The constabulary automatically excludes people from jury service if they have served in the past 3 years, but allows them to transport a written notice to the jury ambassador requesting that they exist summoned for jury service in the same way as others (CGS � 51-217a as amended past PA 08-103). A person is not credited with service if he was excused or if his service was canceled before he actually came into court. Only he is given credit if he was in courtroom and available for service for every bit little as one day and did not ask to exist excused.

When the number of jurors bachelor for service for a jury year is exhausted, a juror may exist impaneled if it is at least three months since his previous attendance as a juror. The provisions excusing service within three years and limits on the length of jury service do not apply in these circumstances (CGS � 51-232b).

LEGISLATIVE HISTORY OF PA 96-179

PA 96-179 inverse the process of compiling the chief file for summoning jurors. The act ' s legislative history indicates that it was intended to expand the jury pool. Below is a sample of comments made by legislators while debating the bill in the House and Senate.

● Sen. Upson stated, "The problem is, Madam President, in many areas, especially in the larger municipalities, nosotros are not getting a true cross department of the public in our jury pools and the problem is that some people do non, are not registered operators of a motor vehicle or they ' re not voters, and if we had a spirit of inclusion, including anybody, and we included new people to the list, then nosotros would truly have a cantankerous section (Senate Transcript, April 23, 1996)."

● Sen. Upson stated, "And then it'southward significant in the fact that we ' re for the first time in I don ' t know how many years, we ' re expanding the jury pool in the State of Connecticut to include all people. And I recall that ' s an important step for this state to do. And specially in the big cities, where if you walk through a jury puddle, it is not a representative pool for those people in the State of Connecticut" (Senate Transcript, April 30, 1996).

● Sen. Coleman stated, "I think it goes a long way toward making service on juries inclusionary, and accessible to all segments of our population. And I think that in turn will become a long way toward dispelling some of the cynicism and the skepticism and the suspicion that is oftentimes directed at our court system, and our unabridged organization of justice" (Senate Transcript, April 30, 1996).

● Sen. Upson, in response to comments by Sen. Bozek, stated, "So there ' s no guarantee in any jury that you ' re going to go people who are completely fair, completely partial, or completely interested. Merely all the same the process of a true jury system is to, is of inclusion. And to take a true jury pool, you ' re non just supposed to select from ane group…And I recollect that in the long run, this process volition bring more than people into the system, then to speak, and make it more than a true democratic system. And certainly, a more democratic choice for jury pools" (Senate Transcript, April 30, 1996).

● Sen. Harp stated, "I desire to commend the chairman of Judiciary for expanding our pool and assuring that nosotros do accept a wider pool of people to select from" (Senate Transcript, April xxx, 1996).

● Sen Sullivan stated, "If we want to sustain the integrity of our judicial arrangement, and we do, and so we accept an obligation to say that that organisation is responsive to and representative of the totality of who we are as a people. And whether it comes from a concern for diversity or perhaps fifty-fifty more importantly, a business that we are all one nether law, that if that is our principle, that we are all ane under law, then all of us must have an opportunity to participate in the decisions of our judicial system" (Senate Transcript, Apr 30, 1996).

● Sen. Bozek, "My remarks are, the people who wish to participate in the procedure have to knock on the door. The doors are wide open up. People don ' t think that information technology's serious plenty or involved for them. What's of import is, if they desire to participate in a process, they should raise their mitt. They should register. They should come forward. Nobody, nobody is going to exclude everyone from the process. This, what nosotros have is, we have a process that sort of pulls people in because of, in my stance, poor arguments…Just the idea that, are we going to go out and kind of pull people in, when actually these people didn ' t accept the time to volunteer and brand the attempt to want to serve" (Senate Transcript, April 30, 1996).

● Rep. Lawlor stated, "First of all, for the juror selection process commencing on September 1st of side by side year, September i, 1997, the names which are -- which go into the jury selection pool, in other words, the persons who are summoned to jury duty volition consist of, in addition to, the current organization which summons registered voters and persons who are licensed drivers in the Country of Connecticut who are likewise residents of the State of Connecticut, shall also include residents of this land who have a permanent identify of abode in this state and who are subject to taxation on personal income. In other words, people may not be registered voters or licensed drivers, who are paying the state income tax. And in addition to that group, recipients of public assistance of the country and in improver to that group, recipients of unemployment compensation. So in other words, Mr. Speaker, the cease upshot would be a listing that would comprise people who may not be in the current pool because they are non registered voters or licensed drivers, but people who may be taxpayers or recipients of public assistance or recipients of unemployment compensation" (Business firm Transcript, May 7, 1996).

● Rep. Lawlor stated, "The theory is that there may be people who alive in our state who are neither registered voters or licensed drivers who are therefore not summoned for jury duty. So there are other lists bachelor to the land from which jurors could exist summoned and those people may not be licensed drivers or registered voters…So the theory is we would have a more representative group of persons beingness summoned to jury duty" (Firm Transcript, May 7, 1996).

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