Photo Credit: Jason Doiy/ALM

A group of state lawmakers on Wednesday announced they will make a late push in the legislative session to expand the ranks of Californians summoned for jury duty.

San Francisco Democrat Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced legislation that would require jury commissioners to add Franchise Tax Board records, in addition to voter rolls and Department of Motor Vehicles filings, as sources of prospective jurors. The idea, he told reporters in a videoconference, is to broaden and diversify jury pools amid public calls to reshape the criminal justice system.

Wiener said he did not know how many more jurors could be summoned under the proposed system, although he predicted numbers would rise particularly in more urban counties home to smaller percentages of car owners and more racially diverse populations.

"We're confident that it will be a much larger number [of prospective jurors], particularly in lower-income counties," he said. The current sources for summonses "are not broad enough," he said.

Although not every Californian pays state taxes, Wiener added, many residents do file paperwork to receive the earned income tax credit.

Democratic lawmakers have unveiled a number of measures this year to address what they say is historical racial bias in the justice system. One would make it easier to challenge a conviction based on evidence of explicit bias by a court officer or the use of racially discriminatory language during a proceeding. A second bill would limit the reasons an attorney could use a peremptory challenge to excuse a potential juror.

"People want us to take bold structural action to change our criminal justice system," Wiener said.

The idea of expanding the source of potential jurors was originally included in last year's Senate Bill 310, which also allowed for certain convicted felons to serve on juries. The bill's author, Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, dropped the expanded jury source language before it was signed into law. Skinner said Wednesday she needed to reduce the bill's costs to get it through a fiscal committee.

Wiener said the California District Attorneys Association, which has opposed past attempts to alter the jury selection process, does not oppose his bill. Representatives of the prosecutors' group could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday afternoon.

The Judicial Council has not taken a position yet on the bill.

Lawmakers have little time left to secure votes for the jury pool bill and other criminal justice measures. The legislative session, which has been in an extended recess after two lawmakers and several staff members tested positive for COVID-19, is scheduled to end Aug. 31. The governor could call a special session to extend the Legislature's work into the fall.