California will allow people, with felony convictions, on juries beginning in 2020.
This could get real interesting for the jury nullification theme and I am not sure in a good way.
Reports the San Francisco Examiner:
[San Francisco] city officials are hoping a new state law allowing people convicted of felonies to serve as jurors will make trials fairer for black defendants in San Francisco.The new legislation is supported by both San Francisco Public Defender Manohar Raju and incoming extreme lefty District Attorney Chesa Boudin.
While the courts have long held that defendants are entitled to a jury of their peers, black defendants often have their fates decided by juries with no black members.
Senate Bill 310, from state Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, is designed to correct that problem by expanding jury pools to include those with felony convictions in their past.
“Up to now, California law bars anyone with a felony conviction from serving on a jury,” Boudin has said. “This disproportionately silenced people of color and prevented many people from being tried by a jury of their peers — a fundamental pillar of our justice system.”
For Raju, the change in state law means people with real experiences in the criminal justice system will be able to share their “invaluable” perspectives in the jury room.
-RW
I'm not sure that the state has fully comprehended how to correct the injustice inherent in its "justice system." Maybe the state ought to consider why so many blacks are put in cages and if that is fair (my guess is, lots of victimless "drug crimes").
ReplyDeleteThey're saying black people in San Francisco can't get a trial of their peers because all / most blacks in San Francisco are felons. Imagine Trump saying something like that.
ReplyDeleteThe way to ensure that blacks will have "a jury of their peers" is to pack juries with felons? Very insultingly racial, to say the least...
ReplyDeleteThe establishment justice system (ejs) is so corrupt throughout the U.S. that the only way to get some justice is to stay as far away from the ejs as possible.
ReplyDeleteI've lived in California since 1996. I've lived in two different counties. I've received a jury conscription notice (summons) every single year since living in California and despite this, have never actually advanced far enough into the jury selection pool to have actually been a candidate to serve on a jury. Once, I got as far as the courthouse jury waiting room but the case was settled before any actual jurors were selected. They sent everyone home. Facetiously, I'm wondering if the justice system actually even conducts jury trials anymore.
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