New Chance for Juror Pay Hike

Jurors don’t serve to make money, but they should not have to dig into their own pockets to fulfill their civic duty. California jurors get $5 a day, a rate set nearly 40 years ago. That’s hardly enough to cover lunch, much less expenses such as child care, but with a new governor in Sacramento the Legislature might finally be able to increase the stipend.

A bill before the state Senate would raise juror pay to $12.50 a day after the first day of service, allowing California to shed its dubious distinction of being one of the nation’s chintziest states in this regard. Nevada and Oregon pay their jurors $15 and $10 a day, respectively, and the federal government, along with some other states, pays $40.

Assemblywoman Carole Migden’s bill would also fund a pilot project in three counties to determine whether reimbursing jurors for child care or dependent care would boost the juror response rate. Midgen, a San Francisco Democrat, sponsored a similar bill last year. It passed the Legislature, only to be vetoed by then-Gov. Pete Wilson. She should have better luck with Gov. Gray Davis.

Courts throughout California are having trouble assembling enough jurors. Los Angeles County courts, because of the large volume of trials and the high number of ineligible noncitizens living here, are particularly pinched.

Raising juror pay above the laugh level would be a good place to start. So would expanding the county’s fledgling one-day, one-trial program. Two of the county’s 12 court districts--Pomona and Pasadena--ask jurors to serve just one day unless they are impaneled on a trial, a big improvement over the 10 days of thumb-twiddling on hard benches that Los Angeles County has long required. Expanding the one-day program countywide should rank right up there with higher juror pay. Justice should be blind but not broke.