Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-10-12
District Courts
Select Juriies
On RigidCode
Intricate Moves
Precede Selection
Under Setup Here
By Howard [. Dutkin

But II you are, you'll get there
through an intricate series Of
moves. outlined in the District
Code and designed to protect
alike the interests of the person
on trial and of the Government.
Prospective jurors are selected
lnitially by a commission of three
members. appointed by the
judges of the U. S. District Court
for the District of Columbia.
Current members are Mrs.
Eunice B. Thomas, chairman:
Col. E. Goring Bliss. assistant
vice president of the Chesapeake
& Potomac Telephone Co., secre-
tary, and Frederick P. H. Sid
dons, vice president of the Amer
lean Security & Trust Co.
Random Selection First.
The primary source of pros
pective jurors is the jury list Of
some 100000 names, selected at
random by the commission from
the city directory.
These persons are sent ques-
tionnaireS at the rate of about
$500 a month to determine their
fitness for jury duty. They are
asked. among other things,
whether they have ever been con-
victed of crime involving moral
turpitude, their citizenship STAT
us, their occupation and their
place of residence.
The District Code provides, in
part, that jurors shall be select
ed "as nearly as may be-
from its (the District's) intelli-
gent and upright residents" They
must have reached their 2lst
birthday anniversary. Formerly
no one past IS could serve, but
today there is no old-age limit.
On the first Wednesday after
the first Tuesday of each month,
the commission selects, at ran
dom, from the original list,
names to be placed in a box for
further drawing. The names
are typed on slips of paper,
folded and then placed in a
wooden box, two feet long, q
foot wide and IA inches deep.
The law specifies that at least
600 names must be placed in the
box before the drawing, but in
practice total of $500 to 5000
names are maintained.
Names Drawn From Box.
Members of the commission
draw the required number of
names from the box, in accord
ance with specified needs of the
courts.
The term of service of petit
juries (trial juries) begins on the
first Tuesday of each month and
runs through the first Monday
of the following month, unless a
trial is still in progress, in which
case the juror serves until the
case ends.
Grand juries, composed of %
members in contrast to the IL
regular members of a petit jury,
may serve up to Is months, but
their normal term of service is
about two monthsI Grand juries
do not try cases. They hear only
the evidence of the prosecution,
then decide whether there is
sufficient grounds to hold an
accused person for trial.
Questioned in Court.
After the prospective juror
appears in court in answer to
the summons, he is again ques-
toned as to his qualifications.
Pleas to be excused from duty
for valid reasons are also heard
by the judge at this time.
After these matters are dis
posed Of, the prospective jurors
are split up into groups, or
panels, and assigned to different
courts, criminal and civil. The
grand jury is selected first and
the names are called off in rota-
ton by the court clerk. Next
those are called to serve on
criminal juries. Finally the
prospective civil juries are picked.
A further wedding out process
takes place in the courtroom be-
fore the actual trial of case.
Members of the jury panel are
questioned by prosecuting and
defense attorneys in criminal
cases or, in civil cases, by law
yers for both sides.
A prospective juror may be ex-
cused in a particular case
through challenge by either side
when. for some reason, the at
torney in question objects to him.
Certain categories of persons
are exempt from Jury duty under
the District Code. They are:
| /. Executive and judicial off,
Gals of the Federal and District
Governments.
2. Officers and enlisted men
of the armed forces on active
duty.
3. Police and firemen, attor-
neys in active practice. ministers
and clergymen, physicians and
surgeons, keepers of hospitals
and asylums and captains and
masters of vessels navigating
the waters of the District.
4. Non-residents of the Dis
trict.
Women May Serve.
Women are not required to
serve but may do so if otherwise
qualified.
Jurors are paid 81 a day and
receive a transportation allow
ance of 10 cents a mile from
their homes.
Ordinarily they are allowed
to return home at the end of
the days session. But in GER
tain cases. especially where
juries are tempered with or where
belief exists that such efforts
might be made, juries are