California Moves To Let Felons Serve On Juries

It should be noted that SB310 makes no distinction between violent and non-violent offenders, and even allows convicted felons who are still on probation or parole to serve.

Imagine serving your time, getting out of the clink, then getting sentenced to six months of jury duty on an insurance fraud case.  Haven’t you paid your debt to society already?

Since this is California, and the idea is cartoonishly preposterous, of course it sailed through the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 5-1 vote.

In testimony to the Committee, Brendon Woods, Alameda County’s Public Defender, noted that defendants of color are often faced with juries in California in which “no one who sits in judgment looks like [them].”

In California it’s already illegal to exclude potential jurors because of their race, national origin or gender, among other categories.  A “jury of your peers” doesn’t mean having a foreman with the same ankle monitoring device as the defendant.

Since the Senate Public Safety Committee vote, SB310 has since been approved by the full state Senate. It was approved on a 27-10 vote.

Look, I’m willing to compromise on this.  If an ex-con wants to judge a wet T-shirt contest I say go for it.  But felonies are serious business, and the public deserves honest trials with juries who will evaluate the evidence with as few biases as possible, and vote accordingly.

More importantly, that’s what victims deserve as well.