Legislation would allow felons to serve as jurors in California

Ventura

A bill making its way through the California Legislature would allow people convicted of a felony to serve on juries, but prosecutors in the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office have some concerns.

“I think that many California, myself included, don’t realize that California has a lifetime ban on a person who has a former felony conviction from serving on a jury,” said Sen. Nancy Skinner, who introduced the proposed legislation known as Senate Bill 310.

The ban has been on the books in California since the 1880s, said Skinner, D-Berkeley.

The proposed legislation would also broaden the jury pool by adding state tax filers as a source list.

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Currently, the Trial Jury Selection and Management Act specifies that registered voters and those with driver’s license and identification cards who live in the area served by the court are “appropriate source lists for selection of jurors.”

But counties can choose to supplement the pool with customer mailing lists, telephone directories or utility company lists, the act states.

Restoring jury duty to felons is a civil rights issue, Skinner said. The general understanding among society is the right to a jury of peers. But that right is impacted when minorities are arrested and incarcerated at a higher rate than caucasians, Skinner said.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner has introduced a bill that would allow convicted felons to be called for jury duty.

Moreover, after serving their sentence and fulfilling any other requirements, voting rights are restored and a felon can become an attorney and practice law, Skinner said.

The California District Attorneys Association has a lobbyist and legislation committee tracking bills affecting prosecutors and the criminal justice system. The association has some issues with the bill and the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office supports its position, said Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael Schwartz.

“We feel that some felons should be able to serve on juries, but they should have fully paid their debt to society,” Schwartz said.

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Last week, the local prosecutor’s office issued a news release stating that District Attorney Greg Totten is opposed to the proposed legislation. Schwartz said he and Totten spoke about their apprehensions to the bill before the release was issued.

“Our concern is that these are individuals who have violated serious crimes and its inconsistent with them sitting in judgment of another person to determine whether they committed a crime or not,” Schwartz said.

The statement from the DA’s office also said the bill would make it so that jurors would be forced to sit with dangerous criminals. Skinner called that reason “a classic scare tactic.”

In reality, a broad number of crimes are categorized as felonies in California. A felony conviction could stem from graffiti vandalism, Skinner said.

Schwartz said he doesn’t think many people would be comfortable sitting next to a convicted child molester. Those kinds of criminal trials can be difficult for jurors to sit through without the possibility of someone convicted of that offense sitting by them, Schwartz said.

If the bill passes or not, prosecutors would still retain the right during jury selection to dismiss people they perceive as biased, Skinner said.

“The other thing about the bill, which the DA doesn’t raise, is my bill doesn’t interfere with the DA’s ability to excuse a juror for bias. If the prosecutor feels anyone who is in the jury pool would be prejudicial in the case they are trying they could excuse them,” Skinner said.

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Since Totten’s office came out against SB 310, there has been an amendment to the bill that Schwartz said is a step in the right direction as they seek a middle ground.

The amendment would sync the restoration of jury service to the requirements for restoring voting rights, Skinner said.

People convicted of a felony can vote once their sentence has been served and they are no longer on parole. Under the amended version of the bill, the same requirements would extend to jury service, Skinner said.

There are still some concessions prosecutors are hoping Skinner makes, Schwartz said.

They include the exclusion of registered sex offenders from jury service, Schwartz said. A five-year period of no arrests for these felons is also being sought, he said.

The state Senate’s Public Safety Committee, which Skinner chairs, approved the bill on a 5-1 vote in April. State Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, voted for the bill while it was in that committee.

Skinner and Jackson supported it again when it passed the senate floor on May 28.

It is scheduled to go before the state Assembly Appropriations Committee on Aug. 21.

Megan Diskin is a courts and breaking news reporter with The Star. Reach her at megan.diskin@vcstar.com or 805-437-0258.