In the Matter of Compelling the Jury Manager to Provide Information on Prospective Jurors, L-8900-11; Law Division, Essex County; opinion by Costello, A.J.S.C.; decided February 27, 2012; approved for publication June 11, 2012. DDS No. 07-3-5535 [20 pp.]
The acting Essex County prosecutor filed an application to have the court order the jury manager to turn over the dates of birth of certain persons in the petit jury pool to the state to facilitate running criminal background checks on those potential jurors, to avoid the legal issues of having an unqualified juror sworn in and to root out in voir dire instances of a juror having lied or given inaccurate information about prior criminal involvement. The application is opposed by the Office of the Public Defender and amici curiae, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and the Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers of New Jersey.
