Jury Panels

WHEREAS, the United States Constitution guarantees that persons accused of crimes be tried by a jury of their peers; and

WHEREAS, the right to a trial by jury is guaranteed in most civil litigation; and

WHEREAS, jury pools should represent the ethnic and racial make-up of the community; and

WHEREAS, the juror selection process should produce ethnically and racially diverse juries; and

WHEREAS, ethnically and racially representative juries are necessary to increase citizen confidence in our jury system;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP and its unit recommend and advocate to judges, court administrators and the non-white community at-large strategies and technologies to increase non-white representation in jury pools; and

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the NAACP and its units will advocate to state and local elected officials to reevaluate and restructure jury selection procedures to increase non-white representation and participation in jury pools; and

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that the NAACP calls upon the American Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and other national legal associations to develop programs to increase non-white representation in jury pools.