Establishes a diverse system of jury selection; repealer; appropriation

BILL NUMBER:A9731

Title of bill

An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to establishing a diverse system of jury selection; to repeal certain provisions of such law relating thereto; and making an appropriation therefor

Purpose or general idea of bill

This bill is intended to provide a fair mechanism to produce, a jury pool that will lead to juries more representative of the diversity of population in New York State.

Summary of specific provisions

Section one of the bill repeals and reenacts sections 506, 507, and 508 of the Judiciary Law to establish a mechanism to produce a diverse jury pool. Among its specific provisions, the bill requires a census to be undertaken in the State's cities and towns every five years, establishes a procedure for randomly producing master lists of prospective jurors, and specifies that if a summons is deemed undeliverable that another name be randomly drawn of a resident who lives in the same zip code area to which the undeliverable summons had been mailed.

Section 2 of the bill makes an appropriation of $10 million to carry out these provisions.

Section 3 of the bill provides for an effective date of January 1, 2011.

Justification

Various studies of the composition of juries in New York State have raised questions about how representative they are of the State's diverse population. Currently, the State utilizes five source lists to create a master list of jurors: registered voters, holders of drivers' licenses or non-driver IDs, State income tax filers, recipients of family assistance, and recipients of unemployment insurance. While these sources would seem to be sufficient in producing juries representative of their communities, there is a great deal of concern about how effective they really are in doing so. This legislation creates a new system whereby every city and town in New York undertakes a census of its population every five years and thereby produces a master list of all adults eligible to become prospective jurors. This will remove the biases inherent in using any of the source lists named above and better ensure the assembling of more diverse and representative juries in New York State.

Prior legislative history

New bill.

Fiscal implications for state and local governments

Appropriates $10 million to carry out these provisions. No cost to local governments are anticipated.

Effective date

January 1, 2011