A selective juror pay increase was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Oct. 8, who cited a lack of budgetary discussions in his veto message.
Assembly Bill 881 would have given low-income jurors in criminal trials in San Francisco and four other California counties a daily fee of $100. The existing daily stipend is $15.
Some San Francisco jurors have been qualified to receive a $100 stipend since the beginning of 2022, but without AB 881, the program is set to expire on Dec. 31. The four other participating counties would have been decided by the Judicial Council.
Follow Our Courts has reached out to the bill’s author, Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco) for comment.
The Senate Appropriations Committee estimated the program to cost $4-$9 million annually. The program would have stayed in effect until 2025.
In his veto message, Newsom said that a juror pay policy has to be decided during budgetary debates.
“While I appreciate the author’s work to create a more equal justice system, this policy needs to be part of budget discussions. In partnership with the Legislature, we enacted a budget that closed a shortfall of more than $30 billion through balanced solutions that avoided deep program cuts and protected education, health care, climate, public safety, and social service programs that are relied on by millions of Californians. This year, however, the Legislature sent me bills outside of this budget process that, if all enacted, would add nearly $19 billion of unaccounted costs in the budget, of which $11 billion would be ongoing. With our state facing continuing economic risk and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications, such as this measure,” Newsom wrote.
“In order to increase jury diversity in California, juror pay must be raised so that economic hardship is no longer a barrier to the fair delivery of justice,” Ting said in a legislative report.
It passed the California Senate with a unanimous vote, and passed the Assembly 73-3, with Assemblymember Tom Lackey (R-Palmdale) in opposition.
In March, a Judicial Council workgroup said that jurors across the state should be paid more.
Juror pay has not kept up with inflation, and has only changed once since 1957, the Ad Hoc Workgroup on Post-Pandemic Initiatives said. The pay was increased to $15 per day in 2000.
In 1996, the Blue Ribbon Commission on Jury System Improvement recommended juror pay be increased to $73 in today’s money for the first 30 days, $91 after the first 30 days, and 50 cents for each mile traveled to and from the court.
Three consecutive attempts to increase pay to the $70 recommendation through the legislature failed.
Read the workgroup’s report here.
