Short of Jurors, Oregon Judge Sought More on Local Street
It’s been so long since a court in Lane County, Oregon, ran out of jurors that the country’s chief judge had to look up a state law that allows on-the-spot summonses for jury service, to make sure it was still on the books.
But it was, and, after trying without success to round up needed jurors via some phone calls, after checking the phone book for their numbers, Presiding Judge Mary Ann Bearden took the next step. She told the county sheriff’s office to go out onto the street Wednesday and summon pedestrians, reports the Eugene Register-Guard.
An unusual number of no-shows among those called to jury duty in a standard fashion, as well as an unusual number of criminal trials, created the shortage. Three were very important, and left her with no choice but to take extraordinary measures, Bearden says.
To make sure that the jurors were fairly selected, she gave very specific instructions to the sheriff’s deputies:
I told them ” ‘Walk out that door onto Pearl Street and summon the first 10 or 12 people you see,’ ” she said. “It had to be totally random — they couldn’t decide ‘That person will be a good juror, but I won’t ask this one.’ I instructed them to ask to questions: ‘Are you a U.S. citizen?’ and ‘Are you a convicted felon?’ I told them to summon everyone who answered yes to the first question and no to the second.”
Jury supervisor Tana Tracewell, who has worked 25 years in the court systems, says she thinks it has been at least 20 years since a Lane County judge called for on-the-spot summonses.
