Despite Reforms, New Data Show Racial Disparities Remain in Connecticut Jury System
The Connecticut Mirror reports that some jury pools in Connecticut still do not accurately reflect local racial demographics despite recent statewide reforms. According to The Mirror, minority communities remain underrepresented in several judicial districts even though state officials have sought to improve the representativeness of jury pools. Such actions include increasing the number of individuals who receive jury summonses in Connecticut’s most populated cities, as well as expanding who is eligible to serve on a jury. Nevertheless, continuing disparities can be seen in the Stamford-Norwalk judicial district, for example, where black residents comprise more than 12% of the jury-eligible population but only account for 7% of people who reported for jury service.
Analyses of the demographics of the jury pool became available after the Connecticut judicial branch began collecting data about juror race and ethnicity as part of comprehensive reforms to the jury system.
Colorado Supreme Court Withdraws Opinion Finding Right to Jury Trial in Eviction Case
Earlier this month, the Jur-E Bulletin reported that the Colorado Supreme Court had sided with Naomi Bermudez, a low-income tenant who was served with notice to vacate her federally subsidized housing for alleged lease violations. In Mercy Housing Management Group Inc. v. Naomi Bermudez, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the relevant forcible entry and detainer (FED) statute provided tenants with the right to a jury trial on factual disputes in FED-possession actions.
However, in an unsigned order released on Monday, the Court retracted this decision. The state’s highest court explained that its prior ruling was premised on its belief that Bermudez was personally served, when in fact she was served by posting, and declined to reassess its reasoning whether the statute at issue conferred a jury trial right in FED-possession actions.
Pennsylvania County Enlists Texas Company to Improve Jury Selection
The Tribune-Democrat informs ($) that officials in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are turning to Judicial System Inc., a Texas based company, to help ensure their jury selection process includes a larger portion of the public. The county’s new system will pull potential jurors from voter registration, driver's licenses, property tax rolls, and welfare system lists. Previously, a licensed motorist list was used, according to Somerset County Court Administrator Tammy Escalera. It is hoped that the new method will make the county’s jury pools more representative of the local populace.