$100 a day for jury duty? It could happen in California — but there’s a catch | Opinion

Jury duty pay — stuck at a measly $15 per day for years — could go up to $100 in some parts of California if Assembly Bill 881 is approved.

It’s about time something is done.

For too long, jury duty has been regarded as a nuisance that busy people should try to talk their way out of.

The $15-a-day-stipend, which is only a little better than nothing at all, makes it seem like more of a drudge.

It doesn’t reflect the importance of jury duty, nor is meaningful compensation for jurors who are not reimbursed by their employers.

Raising the pay to $100 is a start, though there are some catches.

To be eligible, jurors must earn less than 80% of the area median income; cannot receive salary reimbursement from an employer; and must live in the county of Alameda, Kern, Los Angeles or Monterey or in the city of San Francisco.

Also, the pay boost applies only to criminal trials. And finally, because it’s a pilot program, it sunsets in December 2025.

The jury pay bill was recently approved by the Assembly and now moves to the Senate.

We strongly urge passage.

$100 stipends started in San Francisco

AB 881 is an expansion of an existing program, Be The Jury, that started in San Francisco in March 2022.

The goal was to learn whether a larger stipend would help improve the racial and economic diversity of juries; legal experts and court officials had been noticing that juries were becoming “whiter and wealthier,” according to a report on the project.

Results compiled six months into the program are encouraging.

According to a survey given to participants, 63% identified as people of color; 81% said the larger stipend made it possible for them to serve; and the household median income was just under $40,000.

That’s reason enough to expand the program to more areas and, if the results are similar, to take it statewide.

For California to pay just $15 a day is an embarrassment. That’s toward the bottom of the pay scale, though two states — Mississippi and New Jersey — offer just $5 a day. Several others, however, pay $40 and $50.

It’s time to both elevate the importance of jury duty and to better ensure that defendants are judged by a jury of peers — not just by the “whitest and wealthiest” citizens.

This story was originally published June 29, 2023 at 5:00 AM with the headline "$100 a day for jury duty? It could happen in California — but there’s a catch | Opinion."