National Center for Citizen Participation in the Administration of Justice

Florence ll. . Rubin, Presiden t

THE JURY PROJECT

The Jury Project is in its second year. The project stems from the work of the Supreme Judicial Court's Commission on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the Courts. In 1994, the Commission reported that minority groups were under-represented in jury pools in Boston and certain other communities with large numbers of racial and ethnic minority residents. The Commission found that some cities and towns use poor procedures in compiling the local census resident lists that also serve as jury source lists. The commission also found that a significant number of residents in diverse racial and ethnic areas fail to appear for jury duty. The composition of juries is a serious concern for our democratic society, because juries that lack diversity lack the broad range of experience so important in making just decisions.

The Jury Project's primary goal is to improve the composition of juries by encouraging people to serve when called and by ensuring the development of jury lists that include all citizens who are eligible to serve. We plan to provide informational meetings and materials for staff and members of community organizations and to assist them with civic education programs for other constituents, especially young people who could help inform adults in the community.

A secondary goal is to improve juror satisfaction and performance. We plan to survey jurors to determine their needs and to train judges in the use of new trial practices that enhance juror comprehension.

The National Center for Citizen Participation in the Administration of Justice (NCCP AJ) is the leader of a coalition of court, community, and bar organizations that guides the direction of The Jury Project and works to implement its goals. The Jury Project Coalition meets monthly to monitor progress and to keep its members informed. We are eager to expand the Coalition and invite interested organizations to join. This is a grant-funded project - there is no membership fee, and Coalition services and materials are provided free of charge. We want to be sure that The Jury Project Coalition represents the strength and diversity ofBoston.

To join The Jury Project, or for further information. call Florence Rubin at 350- 6150.

14 Beacon Street, Suite 710, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 350-6150 The Jury Project is committed to other activities as well. During the next 15 months, The Jury Project will:

• distribute a special packet of materials about jury duty and voter registration to new citizens at their swearing in ceremonies.;

• monitor the Jury Commissioner's campaign against jury duty scofflaws;

• work with court agencies to prepare a Jury Awareness Week program in the fall of 1997;

• examine the process and the results of the collection of racial and ethnic information from the jury pools;

• inform employers about the jury law and their responsibility to make it easy for their workers to do their j!.lry service.

The National Center for Citizen Participation in the Administration of Justice (NCCP AJ) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization incorporated in 1984 to promote public involvement in the administration ofjustice. The NCCP AJ carries out its mission by working with state courts and corrections agencies to create and sustain citizen participation programs that increase the government's responsiveness to public concerns and expand public understanding of the justice system. We believe that citizen participation is the most effective form of civic education and that informed citizens can play an important role in shaping public policies and programs. We further believe that both the quality ofjustice and the public's image ofthe courts will improve when citizens become more involved in the administration ofjustice .

Support for the NCCP AJ has included grants from the National Institute of Corrections for the creation of probation citizen advisory boards; the Office of the Chief Justice for Administration and Management (OCJAM) for a public review process on probation; the City ofBoston for the creation and maintenance of the Deer Island Citizen Advisory Committee; the New Jersey Administrative Office of the Courts for a survey of volunteer programs in the Family Division; the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation for public education on criminal justice issues in Alabama, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Oklahoma; the National Institute for Dispute Resolution, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, The Boston Bar Foundation, the OCJAM, the Aetna Foundation, the State Justice Institute, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, and 25 law firms for the Multi-Door Courthouse demonstration and evaluation projects in Cambridge and Worcester; and the Boston Foundation and the Massachusetts Bar Foundation for The Jury Project.

2 JURY PROJECT ACTIVITIES

1. Expand and service The Jury Project Coalition, a group of court, community, and bar organizations that guides the direction of The Jury Project and works to implement its goals. The Coalition, or a smaller Steering Committee, will meet once a month to monitor progress and to keep its members informed.

2. Work with the Jury Management Advisory Committee and the Public Information Office of the Supreme Judicial Court to produce a Jury Awareness Week program in the fall of 1997. The multi-media advertising campaign funded by the The Jury Project in 1996 will be used in conjunction with other materials and activities to explain the jury system to the public and to promote citizen participation injury duty. We may decide to produce a publication for jurors about the structure and function of the state court system.

3. Work with Boston organizations to develop and deliver a civic education program about the importance ofjury service in our democratic system and how it works in the Commonwealth. We plan to select three community organizations for this activity. The targeted organizations will receive financial and technical assistance in tailoring the education program to the needs of their constituents and in presenting it in the most effective manner.

4. Work with the Secretary of State and the Jury Commissioner to ensure the development of jury lists that are representative of the community and include all citizens who are eligible to serve. We will follow the development of the central registry of lists scheduled to replace the local census by the end of 1997. We also will support legislation to extend the life of the local census, the best juror source list available.

5. Distribute a special packet of materials to 15,000 new citizens to encourage voter registration and acceptance ofjury duty. A new publication about jury duty is being produced for the kits and for distribution to the general public. Fifty thousand copies will be printed.

6. Work with the Jury Commissioner to encourage acceptance ofjury service. We have supported the Jury Commissioner's efforts to mount a campaign against jury duty scofflaws, and we intend to monitor its implementation. (yVe also have pushed successfully to have racial and ethnic background information collected from members of the jury pools, and we are examining both the process and the results.)

7. Work with the business community to foster a positive attitude about jury duty. We plan to cosponsor a meeting with a business organization to inform employers about the jury service law and to ask them to encourage employees to fulfill their civic responsibilities.

8. Develop and administer an exit survey to selected juries to help determine juror needs. We plan to survey 500 jurors after they complete their jury duty. The questions will solicit data about comfort, convenience, understanding of trial practices and legal instructions, readiness for deliberations, and suggestions for change in jury trial procedures. 9. Examine the experience in other states with new courtroom practices designed to enhance juror satisfaction and performance.

10. Work with the Flaschner Judicial Institute on two judicial conferences to further examine jury service problems and sponsor a demonstration project to test the effectiveness of new approaches to the management ofjury trials.

11. Issue a comprehensive report on The Jury Project's observations and conclusions with an agenda for further action. Disseminate 1, 000 copies of the report to the Commonwealth's judges, political leaders, bar associations, and community leaders for implementation.

12. Provide encouragement and technical assistance to implementing agencies and organizations. ------~------~JURY SERVICE e1994 OFFICE OF JURY COMMISSlONER IN THE FOR THE COMMONWEALTII OF Conunonwealth of THE MASSACHUSETTS\ Massachusetts JUROR . ..· · .. :::: .

A · INFORMATION . .... - LINE((): ·.. F·,, ·. .· :E .{._ :·...·,w ····.·:.·' . ,: ...... : . ; ·. . _:·~ : : . . . . 1-800-THE-JURY (1-800-843-5879) FAC,TS1~'i FOR THE HEARING lMl•AIRED ONLY: TTY# 1-800-328-3202

Both of these numbers are accessible AB0l0jlrJ from 1vithin A-1assaclwsetts only.

If you are calling from outside of th~ JURY.· ,, ·. ' :: .·· . ·.·. ·.:,_ .. ·. · Commonwealth, please call: , l-617-422-5860 DUT¥e: -.:=·· :-··· ··. . . ·· :; .

THE JUROR INFORMATION LINE IS OPEN MONDAY THRU FR1DA Y 9 AM TO 4:30PM. How impottarit isjury duty? \Vhat do jurors do? Charta of 1215 in England . The early colonists 0 0 0 0 0 0 in Boston ami in Massachusetls brought In a democracy such In criminal cases, the jurors decide the guilt or English justice, or common law, to these as ours, jury duty innocence of people charged with crimes. shores. Part of that legal system called for the makes a difference. Robbery, assault, drugs, and murder are use of jurors in resolving disputes.

Everyone who examples. ,t - <( ••• _ ~ ~ . • t; ~ . participates in jury ln civil cases the jury decides either for the \Vhat does a judge do during trial?.; Ci., a u q duty is making a plaintiff, the party who initiated the case or for o o o a o o :: ~~ ~ contribution towards the defendant . Cases \vhere people sue each In non-jury cases (called bench orjury-waived J better life in our country . The Massachusetls other or businesses are examples of civil cases. trials) the judge performs the role of a jury in . ~ ~ and Uniled States Constitutions ·guarantee all court cases . In a jury tria1, the judge becomes · c! c·~ citizens the right to a trial by a jury of one's Jurors sit in tl1e jury box during a trial and c more of a referee making sure the trial is 1) •J peers. Iistcn to the testimony and evidence presented conduclcd 1:1irly, according to court rules and !J !J in a case . Sometimes they an~ a IJm.,.·ell to lake c! prucetlures. , . . ~ I] I] \Vho are jurors? notes. You don't need a law degree to be a 0 How often do I have to perform jury c good juror. All that's needed are common 0: 0 0 0 0 0 0 duty'! I sense and a sense of fairness in weighing all Jurors can be anyone we know. Jurors are 0 0 0 0 0 0 . : dt·~ the evidence to make an impartial decision in doctors, lawyers. window washers, cab Those jurors who show up for jury duty. even the case. drivers, teachers, single parents, politicians, if they aren't put on a trial and serve just one police officers, firefighters, and clergy. day, are disquaJified from jury duty for three Everyone must serve. Do jurors get paid? years . 0 0 0 0 0 0 \Vhere do we get jurors? Jurors arc paid by their employers for the first \Vhere do I serve jury duty? 0 0 0 0 0 0 three days of jury duty. The Cormnonwealth compensates jurors $50 a day for every day of o o o o o a Jurors are selected randomly by computer Jurors appear at courthouses in the county in service starting the fourth day. Self-employed from the census lists from a11 351 cities and which they live . Por instance, jurors who jurors compensate themselves for the first towns in Massachusetts. reside in lloston, located in Suffolk County, three days of jury duty.; Unemployed jurors are musl serve in court locations in Suffo1k eligible for pocket expenses (travel, parking, How long do jurors serve? County. 0 0 0 0 0 0 or child care) for the first three days. Starting Our system is called the One-Day/One-Trial the fourth tlay of service unemployed jurors System. Jurors serve for one day or for the receive $50 a day. duration of one triaL Statistics indicate that 95 percent of our jurors complete their service in How long ha\'e there been jurors? rhree days or less; many are finished in one 0 0 0 0 0 0 day. History traces jurors back to the ancient Greeks where up to 500 people sat on a jury. The right to a jury trial is cited in the Magna