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COVID-19 vaccination record card. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM
it,” wrote the pharmacies in their motion. “In short, Courts have received some guidance. A May
requiring vaccinations for all jurors will drastically 4 publication from the National Center for State
reduce the eligible jury pool, and the remaining Courts found that, while court officials could ask
pool of eligible jurors is highly unlikely to reflect the jurors about their vaccination status, they must con-
community as a whole.” sider impacts on the potential jury pool.
Polster, who is based in the Northern District of “Restricting the jury pool to persons who are ful-
Ohio’s Cleveland courthouse, quickly changed his ly vaccinated may make it more difficult to secure
mind and, on Wednesday, granted the defendants’ enough prospective jurors to select juries,” the paper
request. said. “Excluding persons who are not fully vaccinat-
“Pharmacy defendants make good points,” he ed may make the jury pool less likely to reflect a fair
wrote. cross section of the community, which in turn may
The move comes as judges and court officials are also increase the risk of jury challenges.”
returning to the courthouse for jury trials, many of Many state courts have taken varying approach-
them in regions of the country where the COVID-19 es. New Jersey’s judiciary clarified this month that
pandemic has subsided significantly. But bringing it would not ask jurors about their vaccination
members of the community back together raises the status, while California’s San Luis Obispo County
question of whether their vaccine status could deter- Superior Court offers the vaccine to jurors. As
mine whether they serve on a jury. of June 18, Contra Costa County Superior Court,
“It’s kind of a hotly debated question, and differ- also in California, has offered vaccinated jurors a
ent districts will handle it differently,” said Dana “self-certification” form they can complete in or-
Sabraw, chief judge of California’s Southern District, der to serve on a jury without having to wear a
in a State of the Court address earlier this year to the mask.
San Diego County Bar Association. He added that The federal guidance has been less clear. On May
courts have statutory and constitutional concerns. 14, the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts advised
“We don’t get to serve only those we want to serve, district courts that it “has not endorsed mandating
so we have to be careful in that area.” ■ Continued on PAGE 22

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