Traditionally, several groups of minorities have been left
off of juries. This may have been due to prejudice, mistake, error, or a
variety of other reasons. http://www.eji.org/files/EJI%20Race%20and%20Jury%20Report.pdf.
However, today, certain groups such as
minorities and younger Americans are still frequently left off of juries. How
can we fix this problem?
There are many possible solutions, but one option that has a
good chance of succeeding is a centralized jury system compiled using federal
tax returns. Using this method, the IRS would share a filer's (and eligible family members') name, social security
number, and address with courts and jury summons jurisdictions. No personal
information would be used. This method presents two large upsides, little
downside, and has a high benefit/cost relationship.
There are two major upsides to using federal tax returns. First,
increased coverage of possible jurors would occur. Currently, in most states
juror rolls are created using only lists of people who possess drivers’
licenses or who are currently registered to vote. Unfortunately, this excludes
many minorities and young people, who either don’t possess those documents because
they have never driven or voted or because something has prevented them from
doing so in the past. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/07/why-arent-young-people-getting-drivers-licenses-too-much-hassle/,
http://thedataweb.rm.census.gov/TheDataWeb_HotReport2/voting/voting.hrml.
Oppositely, every American who earns more than the standard deduction must file
a federal income tax return each year, which is about 98% percent of Americans
and their families. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2011/10/19/what-percent-are-you/,
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6012. Moreover, other categories of people
have to file federal income tax returns each year as well. Thus, this logically
means that many people who are currently left off of juror rolls would be
included, and many more minorities and young people would be called for jury
duty.
Additionally, using federal income tax returns for juror
summons lists would increase the accuracy of the lists. Many people move each year,
and thus surely are summoned to juries in locations where they don’t actually
live. http://blogs.census.gov/2012/12/10/america-a-nation-on-the-move/. Also, logically, people who move into new
jurisdictions must get new drivers’ licenses and must re-register to vote,
which people may forget to do or just may not do at all. http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/driverlicense/movingtotexas.htm.
However, a federal income tax return more accurately tracks people because it
must be filed each year, and thus it is at least current on a yearly basis.
This tracking is automatic, because one must file a tax return with the
government anyway. This means a juror summons list would be much more accurate,
and a representation based on the community is much more possible.
The only downside to this proposal is that federal law doesn't
currently allow for federal tax return information to be shared with state jury
departments or courts. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/6103.
However, if partisan gridlock can be overcome, this statute could be amended
and this proposal would then be legal.
Finally, there is great benefit and almost no cost to this
method. As noted, this method would increase both the accuracy and coverage of
people who can be summoned for jury duty and who live in the community. There
is also very little cost. The IRS already processes about 83% of its returns
electronically, and has the technology to utilize this process. http://www.irs.gov/PUP/newsroom/FY%202013%20Enforcement%20and%20Service%20Results%20--%20WEB.pdf.
There are almost no other costs to implementing this system.
Thus, a juror summons system based on federal tax returns
instead of state drivers’ licenses and voter rolls could be very beneficial for
including minorities and young people on juries, better creating a jury
representative of the community.
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