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Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Ind. Courts - Still more on "Marion Superior Court judges plan to start cracking down on prospective jurors who don't show up on the days they're assigned"

Updating this ILB entry from Nov. 15, 2007 on how the crackdown was beginning to show some results, today Jon Murray of the Indianapolis Star reports under the headline "Blown off jury duty? Marion Co.'s 1st warrants could be yours." Some quotes:

Marion Superior Court issued 17 arrest warrants Tuesday for people who missed jury duty or ignored court summonses as part of a crackdown on scofflaws.

The judges hope the prospect of an arrest for contempt of court will spur more potential jurors to come in when they’re called. Despite months of publicity and public-service ads about the get-tough policy, the county’s no-show rate continues to hover below 50 percent.
Among those selected to be made the first examples, nine ignored summonses to mass court hearings called in November for people who had missed jury duty from Oct. 22 to 26.

Another eight showed up to those hearings, received a new jury assignment — and then didn’t show up again. * * *

Marion County’s difficulties in getting jurors to show up are not unique among urban areas, but surrounding counties report few problems.

The crackdown has shed light on shortcomings in the jury pool’s lists, which are based largely on data from the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles that don’t always reflect changed addresses. Stoner said that about 15 percent to 20 percent of the summonses for November’s hearings were undeliverable.

Lawrence said the court would work with the BMV to improve the accuracy of its lists.

The court won’t back down from its aggressive stance until more people show up for jury duty, he said, making it likely the judges will go after more no-shows soon.

One wonders about the improved juror pool lists: see this ILB entry from Nov. 20, 2005, and this one from Sept. 14, 2006.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 9, 2008 09:21 AM
Posted to Indiana Courts