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2009 News Articles › 26th Judicial District Receives National Award
26th Judicial District Receives National Award
Article Date: Tuesday, November 03, 2009
Written By: by Charles Keller, Jr. Community Access & Outreach Administrator, 26th Judicial District of NC
The 26th
Judicial District has been selected by the National Center for State
Courts (NCSC) as the 2009 recipient of the G. Thomas Munsterman Award for Jury
Innovations. This award was first created in 2008 and was created in honor of G.
Thomas Munsterman, the founder and former director of NCSC’s Center for Jury
Studies and an internationally renowned innovator in jury systems and
research.
The Munsterman Award recognizes state and local courts,
organizations, or individuals that have made significant improvements or
innovations in jury procedures, operations, and practices. The NCSC awarded our
district this honor based on our sustained and comprehensive commitment to
improving jury service through our efforts to extend the privilege of jury
service to all eligible citizens, to educate citizens about the importance of
jury service, and to treat the citizens who report for service with dignity and
respect.
Among the achievements the 26th Judicial District was recognized
for were our efforts to better educate the local Latino population about jury
service. A brochure entitled What is Jury Service? was created and made
available to the Latino community. Many Latinos receive jury summonses due to
the fact that they have been issued a North Carolina driver’s license, causing
their names to be included in our database.
These brochures, which are
available in English and Spanish, have been distributed to local schools and
Latino organizations to explain what jury service is and what to do when a
summons is received.
Another method of educating the Latino population
about jury service is through live appearances by court officials on local
Latino radio stations. With the assistance of the Interpreter Manager, these
live appearances include a discussion about jury service, as well as a question
and answer session for listeners to call in with questions regarding jury
service, eligibility, and service.
Other educational outreach efforts
include Legally Speaking, a newsletter for jurors, the 26th Judicial
District’s participation in the Juror Education Project sponsored by the
Annenberg Foundation Trust, the National Public Radio Justice Talking
program, and the American Bar Association Division of Public Education, and
the extensive use of the 26th Judicial District website to make information
about jury service available electronically to the public.
The NCSC also
acknowledged the fact that the 26th Judicial District has taken significant
steps to make jury service accessible for citizens who require special
accommodations. An infrared assistive listening device installed in the Jury
Assembly Room allows the hard-of-hearing to hear the juror orientation,
announcements, and movies via a wireless headset.
We also provide
American Sign Language interpreters and note-takers, when requested by jurors
who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. The entire space is wheelchair friendly, with
low counters and tables, and accessible restrooms. An on-site ADA Coordinator
works to accommodate jurors with special needs, which ensures our jury pool is
as representative of the community as possible. The court provides onsite
childcare facilities for primary caregivers of young children at Larry King’s
Clubhouse: Children’s Play and Care Center and a lactation room for the use of
nursing mothers.
(NCBA Insert Note: Funding for Larry King’s Clubhouse provided in part by the North
Carolina Bar Association Foundation in conjunction with the opening of the new
Mecklenburg County Courthouse in 2007.)
The NCSC also
recognized our efforts to hold jurors accountable and raise awareness of the
importance of jury service. The 26th Judicial District established Show Cause
hearings several years ago to curtail the number of Failures to Appear. At least
once per quarter, the Mecklenburg County Trial Court Administrator’s Office
issues Orders to Show Cause to jurors who have continuously failed to appear for
jury service, who leave without being dismissed, who do not return for voir
dire, or who do not return after being seated as a juror.
The Orders are
served by the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office and instruct jurors to appear
before a presiding Superior Court Judge on a scheduled date and time to show
cause, if any, why they should not be held in contempt of court for failing to
obey a jury summons or to complete their jury service. Jurors have an
opportunity in open court to explain to the Judge why they continuously failed
to appear as summonsed or to complete their service before the Judge makes a
ruling.
If the defendants are found to be in contempt, the Judge usually
imposes a fine and/or orders them to appear for jury service on a specified
date. To date, thirty-one jurors have been imprisoned and/or given credit for
time served after being arrested. Issuing an Order to Show Cause is a final
attempt to get citizens to respond to their jury summons or to complete their
scheduled service.
Our district was also recognized for our use of
technology to make jury service more convenient and efficient. Technical
innovations include an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system that fields
thousands of calls and allows jurors to check their reporting status, defer
their service to a date of their choosing within six months of their original
scheduled date of service without any explanations for the first reschedule
request, and to receive general jury service information.
Juror reminder
calls will soon be added to this system, which will notify jurors via telephone
of their upcoming jury service date. This function is expected to reduce the
number of Failures to Appear by jurors who simply forget their scheduled date to
report.
Other technical innovations include a custom, Web-based jury
management application that was developed locally to summons and process juror
information. An interactive component for jurors will be available by the end of
2009 that will allow jurors to check and update their personal information, view
their reporting status, defer their service, request an excusal or
disqualification, receive a service reminder via email, look up service history,
and complete a jury service exit questionnaire online.
Additionally, a
Juror Fee Waiver program will be implemented to allow jurors to donate their
jury service fees to one or more court programs and services, non-profit legal
aid programs or the Crime Victims Compensation Fund. This program will be
managed via the web-based application, and jurors who choose to donate their
fees will have the ability to print a Form 1099-MISC for tax purposes from the
jury website, after their service is completed.
The NCSC referred to our
Jury Assembly Room as “a model facility” because it provides comfortable
seating, appropriate diversions, including panoramic views of Marshall Park, a
business center, and wireless Internet access for jurors to stay productive
while waiting. A café area provides access to a refrigerator, microwave, and
light snacks and beverages. A pool table, foosball table, and video games are
also available in the mezzanine. These amenities are provided at no cost to
taxpayers by the courthouse cafeteria operator.
To recognize the
achievements of the 26th Judicial District, an award ceremony was held in the
Jury Assembly Room. Paula Hannaford-Agor, Director of the Center for Jury
Studies and NCSC Vice President Robert Baldwin presented the award at that
time.
Trial Court Administrator Todd Nuccio was also invited to represent
our district at the NCSC Annual Recognition Luncheon on Friday, November 20,
2009, at the Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C.
We are honored to be
the recipient of this award and will continue our efforts to make performing
jury service in Mecklenburg County as convenient, efficient, and pleasant as
possible.