Newsom signs bill designed to add more people of color on California juries

California will soon draw juries from a larger group of people who are more reflective of the state’s population as a whole, including people of color and low-income residents.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday signed SB592, expanding California’s pool of prospective jurors by drawing candidates from among everyone who files income tax returns.

California now draws courtroom panels that decide criminal cases and lawsuits primarily from residents who are registered to vote or have a driver’s license or identification card from the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Supporters of the bill say people of color and poorer residents are less likely to register to vote or drive a car, leaving the pool overstocked with white jurors who are better-off financially.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, the San Francisco Democrat who carried the bill, said the measure will ensure that juries look more like the people who live in the state.

“One of the most fundamental constitutional rights is the right to a trial by a jury of one’s peers,” Wiener said in a statement. “Sadly, California juries are whiter and wealthier than the community as a whole, due to the way we draw jury pools.”

Wiener said the state’s tax-filing database includes a broader group of residents, including those who claim the earned-income tax credit, an assistance program for low-income filers.

In contrast, voter-registration rolls can be less representative of people of color. For example, 56% of eligible Latinos do not register to vote, compared with 22% of eligible white people, according to a March report by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California.

Similarly, 64% of people who earn less than $40,000 a year do not register to vote, compared with 18% for those who earn twice that amount, the institute’s report said.

Under the bill, courts will still use voter registration rolls and DMV records in addition to state taxpayer data in calling potential jurors. The new law takes effect Jan. 1.

SB529 is one of several criminal-justice reform measures that legislators have passed since George Floyd was killed by a Minneapolis police officer in May, igniting national protests over racial inequality. The bill had no formal opposition.

https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Newsom-signs-bill-designed-to-add-more-people-of-15606428.php

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB592