| 02/21/2001 Project aims to attract jurors
SAN DIEGO – The American Bar Association, the nation's largest legal organization, has announced a yearlong study aimed at improving citizen participation in the jury system. 01/26/2001 To get more jurors, pay raise proposed
Jury duty – shunned by large numbers of Texans – would be more rewarding financially but also harder to avoid, under a carrot-and-stick legislative package unveiled Thursday at the state Capitol. 01/11/2001 Right to trial by jury gets boost from court
The Texas Supreme Court last month quietly reversed itself and returned to juries the power to decide certain types of lawsuits 01/07/2001 A model for reform
Arizona courts five years ago began a bold experiment in hopes of changing jury duty for the better. 12/17/2000 One jury's journey
Every year, 2,000 Dallas County residents take on – without fanfare and largely without thanks – the serious task of sitting on a jury. In a process that may last from hours to weeks, they sift contradictory evidence, watch posturing lawyers, struggle with confusing legalities and then make decisions that sometimes change others' lives forever. 10/25/2000 Correction, clarification 10/24/2000 Extra money helps El Paso lure more prospective jurors
A year ago, only 22 percent of the people called to jury duty in El
Paso were appearing at the courthouse to serve. Today, 46 percent of those summoned show up. No excuses
Every Friday morning, dozens of people file in under threat of punishment to explain to the no-nonsense Judge Schindler why they repeatedly ignored their legal obligation to report to local courts for jury service. 10/23/2000 Duty calls, few answer
Each week of the year, Dallas County sends out about 13,000 jury summonses knowing that less than 20 percent of those people will show. For the most part, the summonses end up in desk drawers or planners or trash cans, dismissed or simply forgotten. 10/22/2000 High court ruling affects how jurors selected
Pointing to Dallas as a prime offender, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1986 ruled that when choosing juries lawyers can't arbitrarily reject blacks and other minorities because of race. Number of minority, lower-income jurors doesn't mirror county population
Day in and day out, Dallas County courts are relying on a jury system that fails to meet a key legal standard of fairness, a survey and related research by The Dallas Morning News show. The citizens reporting for jury duty at the county's courthouses are disproportionately white, older and wealthier than the overall population – despite a constitutional requirement that prospective jurors represent a cross section of the community, the survey reveals. When summoned, some claim illnesses, prejudices prevent them from serving
When he got his summons for jury duty, one Coppell resident thought he had a sure way out. On the back of the summons, he simply checked off the box indicating that he should be disqualified because, "I am not of sound mind or good character." He elaborated in the space adjacent: "Nazi Party Member." 06/09/2000 Internet music company settles lawsuit with Warner, BMG
SAN DIEGO -- MP3.com, the digital music service that allows consumers to save songs on the Internet, has reached the first settlements in record industry lawsuits claiming copyright infringement. 05/08/2000 Juror's decisions defy lawyers' stereotypes
It had all the earmarks of a runaway verdict in the making. Lawyers arguing the medical malpractice case had completed their closing arguments and the 12 jurors had just filed out to begin deliberating when Dallas District Judge Bill Rhea broke the news to the doctors' defense team. |
