Juror Appreciation Day 2010
On May 20th, PMC co-sponsored the Eleventh Annual Juror Appreciation Day with the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, offered the keynote address. She proclaimed that jurors “have a starring role in our system” and encouraged the all of the jurors to feel proud for fulfilling their civic duty. Mayor Michael Nutter, Administrative Judge D. Webster Keogh, President Judge Pryor Dembe, Judge Roger F. Gordon, Jury Commissioner Gerard P. Shotzbarger, and Lynn Marks of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts all thanked the jurors for their service.
Jury service is a public act with a private component—the jury room. PMC’S Executive Director Lynn Marks and Deputy Director Shira Goodman submitted an opinion piece to Public Record on the importance of respecting the private nature of this space.
“We come to the court when summoned and sit with our fellow jurors through jury selection, a trial, judicial instructions and then deliberation. But the jury room – where deliberation and decision occurs – remains a sacred space. What happens there is not to be made public, until the jury communicates its verdict in open court. Jurors are supposed to feel free to discuss the case, raise questions, and challenge each other in their work to reach a fair, just verdict.
People have always been tempted to reveal secrets or to try to get jurors to reveal what’s happening behind closed doors. And today, it’s easier than ever. With just a push of a cell-phone button, the world can be alerted about what’s happening in a jury room. But just because we have the technology to do something does not mean we should do it. Instead, we should respect the special nature of the jury room and protect it as a private sphere in which collective, public action occurs.”
Read the entire piece here.
Right of Jurors to Take Notes During Criminal Trials Permanently Codified
The Supreme Court has permanently codified Rule 644 to allow jurors in criminal trials to take notes. Rule 644 was enacted in 2005 with a three-year sunset provision. The Court's recent ruling eliminated the sunset provision. Like Civil Rule 223.2, the amended Rule require sjudges to allow jurors in cases expected to take last longer than two days to take notes. In shorter cases, the judge may allow the jurors to take notes.
3rd Circuit Orders Release of Wecht Jurors' Names
The 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled again on August 11th that the names of jurors in the criminal trial of former Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht must be released to the public. The court said that U.S. District Judge Arthur J. Schwab, who presided over the trial, failed to give sufficient reasons for keeping the jurors' names secret.
Historically, anonymous juries are a recent phenomenon. The court found that the reasons Judge Schwab gave for keeping the names secret -overwhelming media attention and the fear that news organizations would disrupt the trial by trying to interview prospective jurors' families or friends - weren't strongly compelling enough to justify withholding the names.
The court also said that Judge Schwab did not comply with the spirit of an earlier ruling, ordering that the names be released. In January, The 3rd Circuit ordered the names of the jurors made public prior to the swearing in of the jury. Judge Schwab released a list containing the names of all prospective jurors, with no indication of which names belonged to the jurors who would be serving.
In response to the most recent ruling, Judge Schwab ordered the clerk of court's office to notify the each of the 12 jurors and six alternates that their names will be released. Schwab said that he plans to release the names on August 18th.
The full text of the opinion is available here.
Don't Ask Me How to Get Out of Jury Duty
Just in time for Juror Appreciation Day, Associate Director Shira Goodman explains in a Metro commentary why everyone should show up for jury duty. Jury duty is a right and a privilege of citizenship, and our justice system continues to function only when responsible citizens show up and take jury duty seriously.
Praise from Jurors
An article in a journal for and about federal judges recounts several federal judges' own experiences as jurors. It's an excellent read and offers insight into why judges serving as jurors can improve their own conduct of trials.
PMC intern and law student Rahul Munshi was summoned for jury duty in the summer of 2007 in Philadelphia. Munshi showed up and was selected as a juror on a criminal trial. In fact, the jury elected him as foreperson. Munshi wrote a commentary piece about his experience that was published in the Pennsylvania Lawyer, the journal of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.
Jury Duty "Survival Guide"
A reporter from the York Daily Record offers some tips gleaned from her recent stint on jury duty. Despite the usual grumblings about having to wait around a lot, the reporter offers this insightful take on her experience: "Performing a civic duty isn't all lounging around while shooting the breeze with your newfound friends (although, there's a lot of that). There are some more interesting parts, particularly when you're picked for a jury. It's not fun trying to assess the facts of a case to decide a defendant's fate, but the challenge of applying the basic principles of our country was founded on is fascinating. That a group of strangers with wildly different perspectives can come together to decide a verdict -- and that it seems to work -- is pretty amazing."
