ORANGE COUNTY PERSPECTIVE : Mix Thoroughly

The Orange County Grand Jury, which is used to focusing attention elsewhere, in 1993 inadvertently turned the spotlight on itself with its call for a three-year moratorium on immigration nationwide.

The position caused such a stir that the U.S. Civil Rights Commission now has before it a complaint filed by the League of United Latin American Citizens. The complaint is expected to be reviewed in commission hearings later this year.

What became clear immediately when the controversy developed last year was that the grand jury was not at all representative of the diversity of the county it served. For example, the jury impaneled last July included 16 whites, one Latino, one African American and one Native American. Their average age was 64, and the youngest juror was 44.

To its credit, the grand jury later decided to make more of an effort to diversify itself. Fifteen thousand flyers were sent to libraries, churches, civic groups, chambers of commerce and city halls in an attempt to bring in a wider range of applicants for service on the jury.

And now, although the results of that campaign are not overwhelming, they do indicate noteworthy progress. The new grand jury, to be sworn in July 1, has eight women and 11 men. Two are African American, two are Asian American and three are Latino. The rest are white. And there is more diversity in age on the panel.

This is being hailed by some as the most diverse ever in age, gender and ethnicity. What it is, above all, is a start.