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Increasing Summons Response
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THE WASHINGTON STATE JURY COMMISSION RECOMMENDS THAT A VARIETY OF PROCEDURES BE DEVELOPED TO ADDRESS THE CONCERNS OF THOSE CITIZENS UNWILLING TO PARTICIPATE IN JURY SERVICE. FOLLOW-UP PROCEDURES SHOULD BE DEVELOPED FOR COURTS TO USE WHERE THERE IS NO RESPONSE TO A JURY SUMMONS.
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Jury Summons
Non-Response
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According to a recent American Judicature Society report, the average jury summons non-response rate in state courts is 20.1 percent. King County Superior Court participated in the study and has a non-response rate of approximately 20%.
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Undeliverable
Summons
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The AJS report also estimates that 24.7 percent of non-respondents were unlikely to have received their summonses. A recent article by Richard Seltzer suggests that possibly more than one-third of jury summonses are undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service. This will be an ongoing problem with a highly mobile populace. Recommendations 3-7 discuss methods for improving the quality of the address data on the jury source lists.
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Reasons for
Non-Response
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There are many reasons why people sent a jury summons do not respond:
- economic issues,
- dependent care,
- time constraints,
- distrust of the judicial system,
- dislike of the mechanics of the jury system,
- religious issues,
- not wishing to judge others, and
- the understanding that failing to respond will go unpunished.
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Points 1 through 5 are addressed in the Commission’s recommendations: the development of an education program (Recommendation 2); a proposed increase in juror compensation (Recommendation 12); better use of a juror’s time (Recommendations 8, 13, 15, 16, 25, 31, and 32), and allowing jurors to defer service to a more convenient time (Recommendation 10).
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Alternative Kind
of Jury Duty
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Points 6 and 7 can be addressed by asking those whose beliefs prevent them from serving as a juror to perform an alternative kind of jury duty, such as preparing summons forms for mailing.
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Follow-up Process
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Point 8 can be addressed by courts using a follow-up procedure if no response is received within two weeks (or an appropriate period for a particular court) of mailing the summons:
- Reminder notice.
- Certified letter signed by presiding judge.
- Second notice signed by presiding judge.
- Show cause order for a hearing resulting in sanction.
Follow-up procedures instituted by many New York counties resulted in a significantly higher response rate.
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Failure to
Appear Penalty
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Many citizens are aware that there is a lack of enforcement of the jury service summons. The Commission recommends that the courts be encouraged to enforce the penalty for non-response (RCW 2.36.170).
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References:
Boatright, Robert G., Improving Citizen Response to Jury Summonses, A Report with Recommendations, American Judicature Society pp. ix, xi, 103, 205 (1998).
Seltzer, Richard, “The Vanishing Juror; Why Are there Not Enough Available Jurors”, 20/3 The Justice System Journal, pp. 211-212 (1999).
New York State Unified Court System, Jury Reform in New York State: A Progress Report on a Continuing Initiative (1996).
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