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Mar 8, 2023 · The State Bar of Texas Jury Service Committee’s purpose is to concern itself with improving the manner in which jurors are treated within the judicial process, including compensation, and developing and implementing programs to ensure broad citizen participation in and support for our jury system.
TexasBar.com | Feature: Adrogue Business Case Diversity - July/August 2021 TBJ. [Opinion] The Business Case for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Why it matters in the boardroom, the courtroom, and every room. Written by Sofia Adrogué.
- Jury Exclusion Laws Hinder Jury Diversity
- Jury Diversity Makes Juries More Effective
- In Some States, Even Misdemeanors Can Disqualify People from Jury Service
- Recommendations For Reform
- Updates
- Endnotes
As we have chronicled extensively,1 the criminal justice system disproportionately targets Black people and Latinx people—so when states bar people with criminal convictions from jury service, they disproportionately exclude individuals from these groups. Of the approximately 19 million Americans with felony convictions in 2010, an estimated 36 per...
Not only does jury diversity underpin the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial and ensure that juries represent “the voice of the community,”9 but research shows that diverse juries actually do a better job. A 2004 study found that diverse groups “deliberated longer and considered a wider range of information than did homogeneous groups.”10 In ...
While the laws barring people with criminal convictions from jury service are often referred to as “felony exclusion laws,” in some states (and in federal courts), people with misdemeanor convictions can also be subject to exclusion. Texas, for example, specifically excludes from juries people who have been convicted of misdemeanor theft. Maryland,...
Reduce the Scope of Exclusion Laws
The good news is that change is possible. California recently passed legislation—championed by public defenders13—largely ending the permanent exclusion of people with felony convictions.14 In most contexts, Californians may now serve on juries upon completion of felony sentences, once probation and parole have ended. Prior to the change, the state’s felony exclusion law prohibited 30 percent of California’s Black male residents from serving on juries.15While California’s jury exclusion law i...
Decriminalize and Decarcerate
Of course, a more sweeping way to address jury exclusion laws would be to reduce the number of people with criminal convictions generally. This approach would entail criminalizing fewer behaviors, incarcerating fewer people, and penalizing criminal activity less harshly. Permitting 20 million people with felony convictions to serve on juries would be a powerful step toward a fairer and more effective legal system, but a far more holistic approach would be reducing the number of people who hav...
Address Other Obstacles to Jury Diversity
Thanks to the efforts of advocates, many states are also taking steps to address other early-stage roadblocks to jury diversity.20 For example, states that draw jury pools exclusively from voting rolls inherently exclude anyone whose felony conviction prevents them from voting, even if the state technically allows them to serve on juries.21 To avoid this problem, states can draw potential jurors from additional sources, such as state tax records and DMV records.22 Some jurisdictions have begu...
Since this report was prepared in February 2021, states have continued to improve their laws, including: 1. Florida: In March 2021, Florida changed its executive clemency rules, such that a person with a past felony conviction, other than a conviction for murder or a sexual offense, regains their right to serve on a jury after completing the terms ...
1. Racial Justice, Prison Pol’y Initiative, https://www.prisonpolicy.org/racialjustice.html. 2. S.K.S. Shannon et al., The Growth, Scope, and Spatial Distribution of People with Felony Records in the United States, 1948–2010, 58 Demography1795, 1808 tbl.2 (2017). 3. Quick Facts (2010), U.S. Census Bureau, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/tabl...
Today, racial bias in jury selection—and the resulting all-white (or nearly all-white) jury—has endured in part through the use of peremptory challenges against prospective Black jurors. The jury selection process provides two ways to strike prospective jurors: (1) for-cause challenges and (2) peremptory challenges.
Aug 12, 2021 · State Bar of Texas podcast host Rocky Dhir talks with Angelica Hernandez, a current member of the editorial board, to learn how articles are selected for the Journal and how the unique perspectives of diverse authors benefit all Texas legal professionals.
Diversity includes ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and socioeconomic background, among other differentiation points that inform an individual’s experience.
People also ask
Does jury diversity affect the deliberation process?
Why is there no racial diversity in jury boxes?
Why are people banned from jury service?
Why should juries be more diverse?
In Study 1, we examined the effects of jury diversity on both white and black mock jurors to examine whether evidence evaluation is improved in both groups; in Study 2, we manipulated wealth and power and manipulated diversity along that dimension.
