Judge to Jurors: Yes, Complain

Re “Let Jurors Complain and Courts Listen,” Commentary, July 22: Gary Blasi highlighted the rich diversity in the jury pool, while acknowledging the significant problem of the large percentage of our community that fails to support the system. His comments about the unacceptable quality of jury facilities are absolutely correct. The courts have been seeking improvements from county leaders with limited results for as long as our county-owned courthouses have existed.

Blasi urges jurors to complain. We agree. The court constantly seeks feedback from jurors, through exit surveys as well as through the efforts of many of our judges who write individually to each juror who has served on a case before him or her to solicit feedback. Unfortunately, the feedback is harder to capture from the 90% of our citizens who don’t end up on a trial. Their opinions, however, are particularly valuable.

Many of our reforms stem from comments and suggestions from our jurors. If we cannot resolve the issue, a complaint provides us with the opportunity to explain the problem and perhaps convert the juror into an advocate who can talk to community and legislative leaders. Blasi promises to pass along his ideas to the court now that his duties as a juror are completed. We want to hold him to that promise and look forward to hearing them.

Judge Jacqueline Connor

Chair, Los Angeles Superior

Court Grand and Trial

Jurors Committee

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You write (editorial, July 20) that “individuals serve [on juries], but the civic responsibility is society’s at large.” In that case, shouldn’t society at large pay the true cost of a juror’s time, rather than the juror himself or his employer? Each juror should be compensated for the amount he or she would have expected to earn during the time of service. Juror wages should be added to court costs, which should be paid by the losing side in civil cases, rather than permitting the parties to hijack slave labor to settle their private disputes.

Juror wages for criminal cases and others where the costs cannot be recovered would, of course, add to the tax burden. This would not, however, be a new tax; right now, the cost is extracted as a random tax on jurors too civic-minded (or not wily enough) to evade service, and on their employers.

Mike Oliver

Los Angeles

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A number of readers have proposed that the Superior Court pay jurors’ salaries. I am sure that the judges would have no objection to doing so, if the Legislature provided them with necessary money and staffing. Write your legislators. Ask them to raise your taxes to fund this program. It’s as simple as that. Then we will have lots of people who would be more than willing to serve as jurors, although employers will still have to cover their absence from work.

Alan H. Simon

Van Nuys