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Lack of accurate records leads to thousands of returned summons
and disqualified jurors. Thousands of taxpayer dollars are
wasted as courts summon incorrect or unqualified citizens.
In "A Look at California Juries,"
Daniel Klerman, law professor at the University of Southern California, reports that one-fifth of all California
juror summons are returned by the post office as undeliverable. California relies heavily on the Department of
Motor Vehicles lists of licensed drivers for jury summonses, but because many licensed drivers do not report
changes of address, these lists are inaccurate.
- Sixteen percent of potential jurors were disqualified in 2000 – the most recent
year for which data is available. The most common reasons for disqualification include: non-U.S. citizenship,
potential jurors with limited English skills, residency in a different county or state, or privilege losses due to
criminal conviction.
- Taken together, California courts sent nearly 1.7 million inaccurate summonses in
2000. Postage costs alone amount to $574,000 wasted taxpayer dollars. Unnecessary costs for staff time and
printing bring this figure even higher.
Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse is a
nonprofit, legal watchdog group whose mission is to educate consumers on the costs of lawsuit abuse in order to
create a climate for common-sense legal reform, and serve as a watchdog group over those special interests who seek
to abuse the system for financial gain at the expense of consumers.
For a copy of "A look at California Juries" please call CALA at (619)
295-6059
This page
was last updated on 04/19/05
©
2002 San
Diego County Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse
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