‘D.A. Sees Grand Jury as Newest Crime Weapon’: Jurors Already Have Active Role

Re “D.A. Sees Grand Jury as Newest Crime Weapon” (Sept. 23): Once again the media are misleading the general public about the complete role and functions of grand juries in California.

To read your article leads one to assume that grand juries in Orange County have been sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, since the 1978 Hawkins decision. This assumption is far from the truth.

The unique structure of California grand juries allows for a full-time sitting body that reviews, investigates and reports on county entities. The grand jury’s civil or “watchdog” function is alive and well and, although easily dismissed by the D.A. and the media, serves a vital function in county government.

For all the reasons the D.A. is elated about the renewed access to grand juries with the passage of Proposition 115, I would remind the public that the civil or “watchdog” function of the grand jury must not be lost. It is a vital safeguard to appropriate county government function and expenditure of your hard-earned money in the form of taxes.

The good news about Proposition 115, in my opinion, is that it directs attention to the more appropriate channel of separate grand juries for very separate duties.

GINGER REED

Board Member,

Grand Jurors Assn. of Orange County

Santa Ana