Newsom’s budget will end the CA test to increase the jury duty

From Joe GarciaCalmness

This story was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

In an attempt to resolve the Multi -Deficiency of the State, Governor Gavin Newsom’s New budget plan He would terminate a legislative experiment that increased the payment of jurors in an attempt to make them more justly represent the communities they serve.

Since September, jurors in seven districts have the right to receive $ 100 a day while serving jurors, a significant improvement in the country of $ 15.

Thehe Jury jury jury It originates from the Newsom Law, signed three years ago. Killing early will save about $ 27.5 million, according to Newsom Last budget offerS

Funded as a two -year program, the legislation required the Judicial Board, the agency that controls all courts in California, to study the data of the jurors and to prepare a report on how the increased day affects the total diversity of jurors.

Now in just eight months, several pilot counties moved to Complete the increased scholarship After the revised Newsom budget proposal came out in May.

Assembly Alex LeeMilpitas Democrat, who is the author of the original bill that created the program, said it was “extremely disappointing” to see that the governor repealed a law he had passed through the legislature and which he had previously signed.

“The payment of the jurors does not increase after 25 years. Due to the incredibly low pay of only $ 15 a day, starting their second day of service, jurors apologize for financial difficulties. This reduces the economic and demographic diversity of our court hearings and can lead to trials that are not representative of our communities.”

Although most of the participating counts announced the termination of the program immediately, Alamed County has not yet determined how it will continue without state funding.

“I think it is absolutely ashamed that this program is considered to be reduced through the mother in May,” said the chief public defender of Alameda Brandon Woods.

“When you think about the price of this program – about $ 27.5 million and the price we pay for nearly $ 14 billion for people in prison – is somehow ridiculous that this small amount has been reduced to make sure our jurors are more diverse.”

Woods speaks not only about the impact of the loss of a pilot program of the jurors, but also what does it mean in the light of the voter passing Proposal 36who have signaled a wave from the reform of criminal justice and a return to more difficult policies for the era of mass imprisonment.

“As a country, we recently adopted prop. 36 – a law that will close more low incomes or black and brown people,” Woods said. “They will be in prison and prison for this law. And while we do this, we also say that we will reduce funding from a program that will actually give people with low income – black and brown – a chance to have a voice in the system.

“So we increase the imprisonment of people while removing their power. I cannot think of something that is actually more disgraceful than that.”

San Francisco initiated its own $ 100 on Diem, the Be jury program in 2022 and generated its own survey on how increased pay led to a demographic improvement directly proportional to its population. After a year, the city announced that the people who qualified for the higher dayhousehold than other jurors. He also found that the color people reported that the extra money “removed the barriers” to serve as a higher percentage jurors than white jurors.

The San Francisco program and his Well -documented positive resultsHe was headed in 2021 by the then member of the Phil Ting Assistant, eventually contributed to Bill Lee in 2022 and came into force last fall.

California does not collect demographic data by the jurors. For many counties in California, the jury pools are usually inclined to fill the most of retirees, those who can afford to lose several days of income, or those whose employers compensate for the salaries of days.

In a recent courtroom in Los Angeles, where the jurors are paid throughout the country of DIEM of $ 15, a black mother sat and watches the choice of court jurors for her son’s criminal hearing.

Despite racial demographics, almost all sitting at this hearing at the end of Voir Dire seemed educated, quite wealthy professionals and retirees.

“My son is 23 years old,” Mom said in Inglewood, her eyes gathered with powerlessness. “Does that look like a jury of his peers?”

Less than two weeks later, her son was convicted of first-degree murder and is now faced with life sentence in the State Prison.

Lee said the Judicial Council would still be obliged to publish a six -month report on the pilot program of the jurors of the jurors of the jurors of the legislature for review.

Joe Garcia is a local associate of California news.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.