Higher Pay Aims to Diversify Juries

eight percent of their area median income. He or she must also meet at least one of the following:

• their employer does not compensate for jury service; or their employer does not compensate for the estimated duration of jury service; or

• they are self-employed; or

• they are unemployed.

Additionally, for jurors who don’t meet the above criteria, AB 881 makes $15/day the base pay, as opposed to the cap. This gives courts the flexibility to pay more, if they can and are able to.

This new proposal is modeled after a 2021 bill I authored, AB 1452, which allowed San Francisco to try out a similar program. Since its implementation locally, the results have been substantial.