A Jury of your Peers?
As I mentioned, I was called for jury duty this week. I’ve never been inside of a court room before, and even though I was never ultimately chosen to hear any of the cases, it was interesting to see how the process works in real life. Of the two cases that I was on the jury pool for, both were young black males. There were also three misdemeanor cases that were either settled out of court or switched to bench trials. Those three were also young black males.
Yea, so what?
The number of potential jurors was by my estimation, over 100. There seemed to be a random cross-section of Peorians from all walks of life… strangely all were white except for two.
Stats from City Data show Peoria’s population to be 68.3% white, 24.8% black, and 6.9% all other races, yet the potential jury pool for this week was 98% white. That’s quite a difference.ÂÂ
I’m not saying the juries aren’t fair and impartial to the best of their ability, but common sense tells me that something just isn’t right.
September 21st, 2006 at 1:20 pm
“I’m not saying the juries aren’t fair and impartial to the best of their ability, but common sense tells me that something just isn’t right.”
What do you think it is that isn’t right? Um … awkward, that. I mean, why do you think it is that 98% of the pool was white? What do you think was the force behind the racial imbalance?
(I haven’t been called in Peoria County yet, but when I was called in Cook, the jury pool was heavily tilted toward the elderly.)
September 21st, 2006 at 1:29 pm
I think (and could be wrong) jury pools are selected of licensed drivers & registered voters. If so, I wonder what the break down on races are for those two things.
I was actualy on a jury once when I was 21. It was interesting and after being in the jury room discussing the case, it showed me that all the defense has to do is convince 1 person the client is not guilty. We convinced her she was wrong (a longer story than I want to type but would discuss over a beer!) and we hung the guy.
September 21st, 2006 at 1:31 pm
I may be wrong, as I usually tend to be, but…
I believe jury pools are made up of people who are registered to vote. That’s how they get your name, etc.
Many blacks don’t vote, for various reasons, and almost all elderly white folk do.
Thus, you have juries all over made up of mostly middle-aged to elderly white people.
September 21st, 2006 at 1:43 pm
[warning: this response contains mass generalizations and stereotyping]
That’s what I’ve been wondering and I don’t have a good answer. I’m curious as to the percentage of people who don’t show overall.
Could it be education or financial status? If you take out the elderly, most everyone else ‘looked’ to be fairly educated and well dressed. Can I assume that un-educated and financially strapped individuals were also called for duty?
Is it the distrust of the law that seems to permeate in the poorer neighborhoods that would cause them to not to show?
Is it education level? Gotta admit, I felt a little uneasy myself, at first. Especially when I was being quized about my background at a murder trial! Yike! I’m no brainsurgeon, but I’m no dolt either, and I found it a little intimidating.
September 21st, 2006 at 2:48 pm
From Peoria County’s website:
September 21st, 2006 at 2:49 pm
Hmmm… my last comment isn’t showing up — is that because I used HTML codes? Okay, I won’t link to the site; just take my word for it — this is from the Peoria County website:
[begin quote]
How are jurors selected for Jury service?
Every year the Jury Commission office receives a list of names that have been randomly selected from driver’s license, voter ’s registration, and Illinois ID card. This list is obtained from the AOIC (Administrative Office of Illinois Courts) in Springfield, Illinois. These names are then combined into one master list and names are randomly selected to receive a juror questionnaire. When the questionnaire is returned, the Jury commissioners then qualify potential jurors. Once qualified the jurors are randomly selected to receive a Jury summons.
[end quote]
September 21st, 2006 at 3:05 pm
As a criminal defense attorney, I find your observations of the racial and age make-up of the jury pool dead-on accurate. I have to correct your statistics, however. For state court, jury pools are made up of registered voters in all of Peoria County, not just the city of Peoria. The ratio of white to black changes somewhat (78.5% white, 16.1% black), but not enough to explain the pool you saw. (As an aside, federal court is even worse because the pool is pulled from 20 or so surrounding counties, almost all rural, almost all white.)
There are so many explanations for the disparate representation of blacks in jury pools. I think it is a good guess that fewer blacks are registered to vote. However, economics also play a large role. In general, minorities in Central Illinois tend to be lower income. Lower income individuals may not have transportation to the court house. They also might be working at jobs that are not as secure where bosses might not allow them to attend jury duty (I know this is against the law, but please, we all know it happens). They may not have adequate child care if they care for their children during the day.
I also think there may be a much more systemic problem – lack of faith and trust in the criminal justice system and the government in general. “Why should I participate in a system that only serves to disparately punish, ridicule, and suppress people like me?” If you look around any courthouse, what do you see? Not only are the jurors mostly white and at least middle class, the attorneys, judges, cops, experts, jailers, probation, and clerks are almost all white and middle or upper class. Who are the only minorities? The other guys in the orange jumpsuits. Put yourself in the reverse situation – how comfortable would you feel being part of that process?
September 21st, 2006 at 3:41 pm
On a slightly different note, just to add more info to the discussion, the only automatic exemption from jury service in Illinois is for nursing mothers. People who can show hardship, either economic, to personal health, or because they are caregivers for a minor, someone mentally or physically ill, will be excused on a case-by-case basis.
Cook lets you fill out a card when you get your summons and send it back saying “call me again in three months.” (I can’t remember if Cook has the cards where you check what day or three-day period is best for you to serve; more and more counties are doing that.)
Counties that have trouble getting enough jurors are getting serious about juror summons enforcement, and I’ve even heard of some judges holding people in contempt when they try the lame-ass excuses to get out of serving on a jury, like announcing, “I’m a Nazi” or “I think everyone should be convicted.”
(Oh, and when I was summoned in Cook? My pay was illegally docked.)
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:28 am
I was called for duty about 15 years ago. I simply threw it in the trash.
I believe they’ve cracked down a little on people that don’t show up- I have no proof of that, but for whatever reason over the years I have formed that impression.
September 22nd, 2006 at 2:37 pm
I’ve been called three times but have yet to serve on a jury. I’ve never even been interviewed, just sat around all day waiting to be told if I had to come back the next day.
My dad (caucasion, late sixties) has served on numerous juries over the years. The most remarkable being the Richard Speck trial, as an alternate. He seems to be called every other year.
September 22nd, 2006 at 10:56 pm
Everybody seems to be ignoring the elephant in the room! The criminals are predominately young black males!! Let’s stop being politically correct and address the problem….
September 23rd, 2006 at 1:46 pm
And what makes those young black males more criminally minded than middle-aged white males or young asian females or hispanic elderly grandmas or pre-pubescent canadian immigrants?
I think that’s the problem that needs to be addressed.
September 27th, 2006 at 11:59 am
I served on the Jury once. Very enlightening. We let the guy go cause the state’s attorney could not produce anything more than heresay against the perp. We figured the perp was likely guilty but we all felt it was more important that the state produce a case with evidence. All the state had was the victim who said the perp did it and the perp who said no way. No witnesses, no physical harm or trauma, no evidence, no security footage (which they could have gotten if they really wanted to). Just heresay. The perp was a black homeless guy, the victim; white female.
Afterward the State’s attorney came back and asked us for the reasoning for our decision. She was pissed. The perp had a long arrest record and they had hoped to lock him away. No dice. The lesson, do your job and do it well.