Minorities: Grand Jury Needs You

The Orange County Grand Jury is one of the more important organizations in the county. This year’s panel has no minority members, which is inexcusable. The homogeneity represents a distressing step backward.

Not only are all 19 panelists white; so are the 11 alternates. Only three years ago, more than a third of the 19 members were members of minorities, constituting a panel that looked more like Orange County as a whole.

Superior Court Judge C. Robert Jameson is correct in calling it “unconscionable” that a county with as many Latinos as Orange does not have a single one on the grand jury. The county’s other sizable ethnic minority, Asians, also has no representatives. A panel that examines so many important agencies and programs in Orange County should reflect the county’s ethnic makeup.

Jameson is in charge of recruiting jurors for the panel that will take office July 1. Those interested in volunteering can obtain applications at any county courthouse or by calling the grand jury hotline at (714) 834-6747. Information is available at https://www.oc.ca.gov/superior. The deadline for applications is Jan. 31.

Those who serve on the grand jury perform a valuable service. They can be called on to investigate criminal matters and issue indictments. But because the district attorney’s office can bring charges on its own, the grand jury’s more important and unique role is in investigating government operations.

In the past year, the grand jury has investigated whether the Orange County sheriff-coroner’s office should be split into two because of the possibility of conflict of interest. That’s a topic that is raised often in the county, and it is good to inquire periodically to see if circumstances have changed. The panel’s conclusion this year was that the status quo is fine.

The grand jury also looked into the foster care program and concluded that foster parents should be better trained and better paid.

Members of various ethnic groups can bring different perspectives to topics under inquiry and can suggest new areas that should be investigated. Seven years ago the county grand jury called for a three-year moratorium on immigration, legal and illegal. That was a mistake made by a panel that had only two members from minority groups.

Judges and county officials in past years have tried to remedy the lack of minority members by urging ethnic groups in the county to publicize the need for grand jurors. There have been years when that has been successful, and as new judges take charge of the grand jury on a rotating basis they must ensure the outreach continues.

Grand jurors receive only $25 per day and serve four or five days a week, so not surprisingly most are retired. But this public service should be carried out by representatives of all the communities whose diversity constitutes one of the strengths of Orange County.