Interesting NYT Op-Ed by Bill Keller on opening jury service to non-citizens who are legal residents
I haven't entirely decided how I feel about the suggestion, but I certainly wouldn't dismiss it out-of-hand. But I"m not sure Bill Keller makes a very good case for it in this Op-Ed.
In support of expanding jury service to make non-citizen legal residents eligible to serve, Keller points to the high cost of jury trials, which, he claims, have led to a decline in the number jury trials, in favor of summary judgments and out-of-court settlements. I don't doubt that cost has driven that decline, but Keller fails to explain how he thinks expanding the jury pool would bring those costs down. The added costs of a jury trial, it seems to me, are comprised chiefly of the expense involved in accommodating jurors (stipends, hotel accommodations when juries are sequestered, etc.), as well as the added expense of court time needed for jury selection and deliberation. But those costs remain fairly fixed, regardless of how large the initial jury pool might be.
Keller also mentions that it is much more likely these days, if one is called for jury duty, that one will go home without having served on a jury. But that doesn't suggest to me that the problem is that the available jury pool isn't large enough; rather, it seems to me this points to a gross inefficiency in the way jurors are selected. And again, I fail to see how this is addressed merely by expanding the jury pool.
There might be very good reasons to expand jury pools to include non-citizen legal residents, and I would certainly be open to hearing them. Keller's Op-Ed, however, fails to make the case.
Any thoughts?
[font size=1 color="gray"]By BILL KELLER
Published: September 22, 2013[/font]
TODAY let’s take a short break from the dismaying spectacle of everything Washington and celebrate one feature of American democracy that still pretty much works. I refer to jury duty, which, since the abolition of the draft and aside from taxes, is the most arduous chore that comes with government by the people.
The subject is on my mind not only because I spent two days in a jury pool last week, but also because of some interesting news. The great laboratory state of California has just come up with an interesting idea for enlarging this quintessentially American institution: including noncitizens. The State Legislature passed a bill last month opening jury service to permanent legal residents (not, as foxnews.com misreported, “illegal immigrants”) and it is awaiting the signature of Gov. Jerry Brown. We’ll get to that shortly.
A few years back my colleague Adam Liptak — deftly extracting a column from his own days in a jury pool — pointed out that the jury trial is in sharp decline, replaced by out-of-court settlements and summary judgments from the bench. This trend continues, boosted by the financial crisis. Budget cuts in many jurisdictions have raised the threshold for jury trials because they are more expensive. It is more likely than ever that when you are summoned to jury duty you will go home, as I did, without working a trial. This is generally a relief for people who have other places to be but is also a saddening retreat from what is, as one judge enthused to Liptak, “the most stunning and successful experiment in direct popular sovereignty in all history.”
I’m a cheerleader for jury duty. It is one of the few rituals of our political system that respects the experience and common sense of the ordinary citizen, and that puts a premium on an open mind. A collection of strangers from disparate backgrounds, in pursuit of a common purpose — justice — is the founders’ vision in microcosm. Sure, we can all think of cases where a jury was razzle-dazzled by a skillful attorney, or lost in the complications of evidence, or swayed by popular prejudice. But judges are human, too. And a jury can soften the rough edges of the law.
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