U.S. District Chief Judge Juan R. Sanchez of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Courtesy photo

Federal courts are finding new ways to serve justice by improving diversity and fairness in jury makeup, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is among the latest to join the effort, according to a report released by the U.S. Courts on Thursday.

“We live in a society in which the government cannot deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without consulting the citizens, setting us apart from countries around the world,” U.S. District Chief Judge Juan R. Sánchez of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania said in a statement included with the report. “Through our outreach effort, we hope to remind people that the judicial system relies on them to ensure justice is delivered fairly.”

The Eastern District and others have begun to evaluate their selection processes to ensure that the age, race and socioeconomic status of juror pools reflect their communities.

“The public's engagement and trust in the court system is dependent on jury diversity,” Sánchez said. “Jurors from a cross section of the community bring different life experiences and perspectives to jury deliberations, leading to more informed discussions and greater public confidence in the judicial process.”

Sánchez, with the help of a jury diversity subcommittee, started an effort to encourage more people across the district to respond to jury summonses. The court first made several procedural changes to its jury-selection process. To increase the number of names in the pool, the court enlarged its “master jury wheel”—an automated database with names randomly selected from sources such as a driver's license list and voter registration rolls. To improve the response rate to juror qualification questionnaires, the court updated its mailing list, conducting more frequent address checks through the U.S. Postal Service. The district court now sends additional qualification questionnaires to addresses in ZIP codes with low return rates, the report said.

In addition, the court launched a community outreach and education program, through which community leaders have been recruited to talk up jury service, the report added.

The Eastern District of Michigan, including Detroit, has been making the same effort. Chief Judge Denise Page Hood and Judge Victoria A. Roberts steered the court toward a grassroots strategy after the 2007 recession left many people in the district jobless, which negatively affected the jury summons response rate.

“There's no one-size-fits-all approach to jury diversity,” Hood said in a statement included with the report. “A plan like this requires us to get out into the community to teach the public about the importance of jury service, while also listening to see how we can remedy impediments that keep people from responding.”

Both districts had high rates of non-responses and undeliverable juror questionnaires, especially in urban and more transient areas. Financial stress and lack of reliable transportation were factors, the judges said.

One tool that's free and easy, the report said, is simple appreciation. All the judges quoted in the report said they make a point of thanking people who show up to serve.

“Even federal judges serve on juries,” Roberts said. “Every time I appear before a new group of jurors, I point out my certificate of jury service hanging on the wall in our jury room. I find that people's perception of jury duty changes for the better after experiencing it for themselves. I can only hope that sharing those experiences warms others up to the idea of answering the call.”