Incoming Grand Jury Meets Diversity Goal

The next Orange County Grand Jury will be the most diverse panel in recent years--possibly ever--with nonwhites accounting for more than 40% of the members.

The jury’s racial and ethnic makeup represents a change from the current panel, an all-white jury whose lack of diversity drew sharp criticism from minority groups.

Because of that criticism, Superior Court officials launched an aggressive recruitment campaign that widened the pool of potential minority candidates. Twenty percent of the 172 people who applied to serve were minorities, most of them Latino. The new jury was selected in a random drawing on Friday.

“Obviously, it’s a positive change,” said Jess Araujo, a Santa Ana attorney and activist. “Any time you can get minorities represented in a diverse community, we’re a lot better off.”

Orange County’s panel, which once focused on criminal indictments, now serves as a county government watchdog, reviewing various agencies and issuing sometimes-scathing reports recommending changes.

The incoming 19-member grand jury will consist of 11 whites, three Latinos, two Native Americans, two Asians and one African American. Five of the jurors are women; the average age on the panel is 64. The jury will serve a one-year term starting in July.

The jurors were selected from 30 final candidates, 40% of whom were minorities. Eight others will serve as alternate jurors.

The homogeneous makeup of the current jury stood in marked contrast to Orange County’s diverse population, which is nearly 30% Latino and 13% Asian. As part of the stepped-up minority recruitment campaign, court officials sent out applications and information packets to more than 1,000 companies and community groups.

In addition, judges visited community organizations and council meetings in every city in the county. They also went on Vietnamese radio programs and the Orange County cable-TV news channel.

Whether the incoming panel is the most diverse ever is unknown. Court officials keep demographic records for only five years. Still, it is the most diverse in recent years, they say.

After an outcry from minority leaders in the mid-1990s, minorities made up a third of the grand jury picked in 1996. But those gains were short-lived.