Choosing Juries

“L.A. County to Begin Modifying Jury Service” (Dec. 16) is a first step toward addressing jurors’ grievances mentioned in Patt Morrison’s Dec. 2 column.

As a juror who has served on juries a number of times, I suggest disallowing the use of peremptory challenges. This would eliminate most of the remaining objections. I see no valid reason to allow attorneys to attempt to seat jurors they think would be friendly to their arguments. They should be required to seat any prospective juror not excused for cause.

This change in procedure would immediately increase the pool of eligible jurors by at least 50%. Long waits in the jury room would be eliminated, since being picked for a panel, which occurs frequently, would increase the likelihood of actually being seated on a jury. I can see no real advantage to peremptory challenges, since both attorneys have the same right to challenge. Most important, the jury would be chosen, as required, on a random basis.

DAVID BAKALAR

Northridge