By Caleb Silver
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – San Francisco has just received $650,000 in state funding in continuation of its “Be the Jury” program that helps lower income jurors participate in Jury Duty, by raising the daily rate to $100 instead of the usual $15, according to the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office.
Phil Ting (D-SF) helped raise funding for the project for this fiscal year along with help from the San Francisco’s Treasurer’s Office, Public Defender’s Office, SF Bar Association, and District Attorney’s Office.
In a statement, those local stakeholders said they hope the program can be implemented nationwide.
Ting said, “Higher jury pay does, in fact, diversify juries. When juries are more reflective of the communities they serve, they spend more time in deliberations and are less likely to presume guilt. Multiple perspectives weighing in helps defendants get a fair trial.”
The statement noted jury duty’s crucial role in the civic engagement of any city or community, but because of the $15 daily rate many people of color and citizens in lower socioeconomic class in San Francisco cannot afford to be a part of that process.
San Francisco Treasurer, José Cisneros, explained, “No one should have to decide between making ends meet or fulfilling their civic duty, The Be the Jury program results make it clear that paying people to serve on juries is a necessary step towards upholding our constitutional right to a trial by peers.”
San Francisco Mayor London Breed added, “Be The Jury is groundbreaking because even when those discriminatory laws changed, low-income jurors—many being Black, Asian, Latino—struggled to be able to serve because they couldn’t give up their wages…our state legislators are partnering with our city to continue this type of smart, innovative change that will create a more equitable and fair criminal justice system.”
Since its inception in March of 2022, said the SF Public Defender statement, about 2,700 jurors have participated in the “Be the Jury” program, which has been successful in increasing both the racial and fiscal diversity of the San Francisco jury pool.
