From Deseret News archives:

Utah jury selection upheld

Judge rejects claim that Hispanics are underrepresented

Published: Monday, Oct. 2, 2006 11:34 p.m. MDT
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It is compiled from state tax records, voter registration lists and driver's license records, said Tim Shea, senior staff attorney at the Administrative Office of the Courts.

While the list is updated regularly, it doesn't provide additional information about race or ethnicity because the only agency that records race is the driver license division — and even that must be voluntarily given, Shea said.

During a July hearing on the motion, Vincent Fu, an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Utah, testified about work he had done with data, which indicated an initial finding of racial inequity.

Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004 show Hispanics representing some 7.6 percent of the community but comprise only 3.6 percent of the master list, Davis wrote in his ruling citing Fu's testimony.

Esplin argues these statistics show an inequality.

However, Davis ruled that considering the legal requirements to be a juror — U.S. citizenship and the ability to speak English, for example —the number of Hispanics in the pool are an adequate representation of the eligible Hispanic population.

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In 2000, the Committee on Improving Jury Service presented recommendations to the Utah Supreme Court and Utah Judicial Council about ways to make the jury selection process more accurate, Shea said.

One recommendation was that the "Judicial Council obtain demographic information about the qualified jury pool ... in the following demographic categories: race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability; education and income."


E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com

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