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N.J. courts collect racial data during jury selection. Pennsylvania advocates want similar reforms.
Philadelphia Inquirer link: https://www.inquirer.com/news/new-jersey-supreme-court-jury-selection-andujar-reforms-20230717.html
In what New Jersey officials called a first-of-its-kind reform, the state’s courts have begun collecting racial and demographic data on jurors to help align jury panels with the diversity of surrounding communities. Court officials say the effort will help ensure that jury pools are an appropriate reflection of the communities from which jurors are drawn.
It’s one of a host of changes New Jersey began last year, including limiting how extensively trial lawyers can examine jurors’ backgrounds when seeking to remove potential jurors from serving on a particular case.
Other efforts, such as implicit bias training for court staffers, and education campaigns about the benefits of jury duty in marginalized communities, are also underway.
Civil rights groups and legal experts lauded the reforms, saying the jury selection process has long kept working-class people and people of color from participating in a key function of the criminal justice system.
It’s one of a host of changes New Jersey began last year, including limiting how extensively trial lawyers can examine jurors’ backgrounds when seeking to remove potential jurors from serving on a particular case.
Other efforts, such as implicit bias training for court staffers, and education campaigns about the benefits of jury duty in marginalized communities, are also underway.
Civil rights groups and legal experts lauded the reforms, saying the jury selection process has long kept working-class people and people of color from participating in a key function of the criminal justice system.
- more at link -
This is more of an op-ed piece than a news article, in my opinion. It has merit and needs to be discussed further for the metro areas of Philly and Pittsburgh, and some of the higher-population counties of Pennsylvania.
However there are several low-population rural counties in PA too, and the concentration of non-white residents in those areas is below the threshold. It's not always about civil rights, sometimes it's simply about "who lives in my town and who are my peers."
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