New Jersey State Bar Association headquarters. Credit: Google

Capitol Report

Judicial Conference Ramps Up

Next week, members of the legal community will attend the Judicial Conference on Jury Selection to discuss bias in the jury selection process. The conference, conducted pursuant to Rule 1:35-1, includes a panoply of attendees, including judges, judicial staff, lawyers, legislators, and members of the public who will weigh in on consideration of improvements and the practice and procedure on jury selection, including the use of peremptory challenges. The New Jersey Supreme Court called upon the Administrative Office of the Courts to hold the conference in the opinion of State v. Andujar, which addressed a prosecutor's selective use of a background check on a potential Black juror to disqualify the individual from serving on the jury.

The conference will be held on Nov. 10 and 12 at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick. The conference will include a series of plenary sessions, which will be open to the public through real-time participation on virtual platforms, as well as limited in-person attendance. The areas of focus examine implicit bias in the jury selection process, and the Judiciary has commissioned an expert whose report on New Jersey's jury selection practices, in addition to other resources, is available at njcourts.gov. In addition to keynote and panel presentations, the conference will feature in-person, virtual and pre-recorded public testimony. A guide to the conference, published by the Judiciary, anticipates post-conference recommendations that will be published for review and comment.