Court Opinion

ID: 9652181
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 17:20:30.407227+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:12:49.237133
License: Public Domain

MANDERINO, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent. The Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of an impartial jury requires that the jury represent a fair cross-section of the community. Taylor v. Louisiana, 419 U.S. 522, 533, 95 S.Ct. 692, 42 L.Ed.2d 690 (1975). Appellant argues that a large segment of the population was not represented on his jury because the jurors were selected only from voter lists. I agree.
Substantial segments of our population do not vote and hence are not registered on voter lists. It must follow that any jury pool selected entirely from voter lists cannot possibly represent a fair cross-section of the community as required by the Sixth Amendment.
Other sources are readily available for assembling a jury pool which would represent the general makeup of that community. Lists of water, gas, electricity and telephone *343consumers are available, as are census lists, social security enrollments, and other commercial and governmental compilations. These lists are available on computer tapes and compiling a nearly complete list of those eligible for jury duty would not involve time-consuming or expensive procedures. The scanning of lists by computer and elimination of duplicate names is a relatively easy process. Such lists can easily be utilized to put together a list of prospective jurors reflective of the entire community. With such resources available, a method of jury selection which is unrepresentative must be considered a violation of the accused’s constitutional rights.
NIX, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.