Juror shortage leads to postponed trials in municipal courts

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

MARYSVILLE — The Sixth Amendment guarantees people the right to a speedy and public trial in front of a jury of their peers. What happens when those peers don’t show up?

At Marysville Municipal Court, officials are grappling with that question. Two cases this summer did not go to trial because not enough people responded to their summons letters to seat a jury of six.

The court usually sends out between 55 to 60 such letters to community members with the goal to identify 20 potentially qualified jurors. To start the trial, at least 12 potential jurors must be present for voir dire, the jury selection process in which lawyers ask questions to weed out those they believe exhibit bias.

In July, only five of the 50-some potential jurors summoned showed up. The case did not go to trial and was postponed. Marysville isn’t the only city court dealing with this issue.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/juror-shortage-leads-to-postponed-trials-in-municipal-courts/

[Salviati]

1. It must really be a county by county issue.

I got called for jury duty in municipal court this week in Shoreline, but got an email fully excusing me from it from it last week. I had served on a trial in superior court a few years ago in a trial that ran about 3 weeks. Honestly it was a good experiance, I'm glad to have had it, even if it was a bit inconvienant (I wasn't working that summer, so it just meant less free time for me...)

One way that perhaps they could make it more fair, and discourage people from being excused though, given that WA does not require your employer to pay you while you serve,is to pay at least minimum wage for jury service, particularly if you're chosen for a jury. $10 a day in WA state is kind of insulting...