NJSBA HQ New Jersey State Bar Association Headquarters, New Brunswick, NJ. Credit: Google

Capitol Report

NJSBA gears up for judicial conference on jury selection

The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) is convening a working group to discuss implicit bias in the jury selection process in anticipation of the state Supreme Court's Judicial Conference on Jury Selection this fall. In a letter to the Court last month, the NJSBA asked the Court to share information for examination and debate on the issue of jury selection. The announcement by the Court on the conference follows a ruling in State v. Andujar linking the number of peremptory challenges in New Jersey to the potential for discrimination and implicit bias in the jury selection process.

"The NJSBA is committed to meaningful participation in the upcoming Judicial Conference on Jury Selection examining the nature of discrimination in the jury selection process and how to effectively address it," wrote Domenick Carmagnola in a letter to Acting Administrative Director of the Courts Glenn A. Grant. "We look forward to engaging with the invited members of the legal community in a probing conversation about the necessary steps to root out discrimination in the selection of juries."