Easing Jury Duty’s Sting

Juror service is everyone’s civic duty, but citizens shouldn’t have to pay out of pocket to perform it. That’s the premise of a reasonable bill by Assemblywoman Carole Migden to raise juror pay. The legislation is now stalled in the state Senate.

State law requires counties to pay jurors a paltry $5 a day, a minimum that puts California among the chintziest states in the nation. Counties may pay up to $20, but Los Angeles County can afford only the baseline $5--and even that has not been forthcoming since July 1 because of the state budget impasse.

No one does jury duty to make money, but $5 doesn’t even cover lunch plus automobile expense or bus fare to the courthouse. No wonder there are so many creative excuses when that juror summons arrives in the mail and so much grousing.

The San Francisco Democrat’s legislation would raise the daily compensation throughout the state to $10 and launch a three-county pilot project to determine whether reimbursing jurors for child care in hardship situations would increase juror participation. The measure, which passed the Assembly, could die in the Senate without backing from Gov. Pete Wilson, who has been reluctant to sign on.

Philosophically, Wilson holds that citizens have a civic duty to serve regardless of monetary loss. But he should be moved by the prospect of higher juror turnout.

Fulfilling that civic duty in Los Angeles County can be an ordeal--endless waiting in crowded, deteriorating courthouses and the inconvenience of reporting for 10 days.

For self-employed people, those whose employers won’t pay during jury duty and full-time homemakers who need to hire a baby-sitter, jury service can mean a huge out-of-pocket loss, though such folks usually are excused from service. The goal should be to require service for just one day or one trial; if a juror is not assigned to a trial the first day, he or she is dismissed. Ventura, Orange and 19 other counties already do this, but sprawling Los Angeles County would have to spend plenty to upgrade computer systems and accommodate the larger numbers of jurors needed for one-day, one-trial.

In the meantime, Migden’s bill could encourage more potential jurors to step forward by making jury service a bit less onerous, and Wilson should support it.