Federal judiciary issues report on restarting jury trials Thursday, June 11, 2020

U.S. Courts

A comprehensive new report on conducting federal jury trials and convening grand juries during the pandemic details the number of factors for courts to consider, from changes to prospective juror questionnaires to creating safe spaces for jurors to deliberate safely.

“Jury trials are the bedrock of our justice system, expressly provided for in the Constitution and in the Sixth and Seventh Amendments,” the report says. “When each court determines that the time is right, the judiciary must reconstitute jury trials during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The newly released 16-page report was written by a group of federal trial judges, court executives, and representatives from the federal defender community and the Department of Justice as part of the work of the COVID-19 Judiciary Task Force.

Read more at: https://www.uscourts.gov/news/2020/06/10/judiciary-issues-report-restarting-jury-trials