OAKLAND — A jury of one’s peers is the cornerstone of the U.S. criminal legal system, but a new documentary by filmmaker Abby Ginzberg reveals that remains a rarity for many Black and brown people charged with a crime in Alameda County and beyond.
“Judging Juries” follows Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods, who frequently finds that the people he represents are not being judged by a cross-section of their community, which has major implications for conviction rates. The documentary, which spans 22 minutes, delves into some of the barriers to jury participation, such as biased selection processes and low pay.
“We need more Black and brown people summoned for jury duty, and we need them seated in the jury box,” Woods said in a statement. “Too often the jury consists of a group of people whose life experience is nothing like the person seated next to the public defender. That’s got to change.”
Until recently, it was legal to discriminate against potential jurors based on race or gender. Even now, people can be disqualified during jury selection for arbitrary reasons, such as their hairstyle, clothing choices or mannerisms. Even when Black and brown people aren’t excluded for trivial reasons, the low compensation for jury duty often excludes people who can’t afford to serve, resulting in the jury bench being populated primarily by retirees and high-earning professionals.
A 2010 by the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California found that Black and Hispanic people are underrepresented in Alameda County jury pools while Asian people are overrepresented. Trials with all-white jury pools have higher conviction rates for Black defendants and lower conviction rates for white defendants compared to jury pools with at least one Black potential juror, according to a 2011 research paper out of Carnegie Mellon University.
