To try or not to try — remotely. As jury trials move online, courts see pros and cons
Cindee Crosby got a summons in the mail calling her for jury duty. So one day, in October 2020, she logged on to Alameda County's jury selection video call. It would be the longest Zoom call of her life: 2 1/2 weeks.
That's how long it took to pick a jury. Crosby watched as one person after another showed up in a small square on screen, answering the same set of questions from attorneys. There were breaks, of course, for meals and sleep, day after day.
Crosby was selected and served. The on-and-off trial by Zoom lasted until spring.
That trial is part of an ad hoc experiment playing out all over the country. In Alameda County, Calif., home to cities such as Oakland and Berkeley, Judge Brad Seligman faced a challenge. Like other court systems, the Superior Court's civil division he supervised faced a huge case backlog caused by the pandemic.
To get cases moving, Alameda County Superior Court decided to hold civil jury trials virtually, starting with selecting a jury. Seligman had lots of concerns.
"I was extremely skeptical about whether it could work, and my concerns going in were, would any juror even show up," Seligman says. Showing up was just one possible problem. Other judges and lawyers worried about spotty internet access, computer availability and the potential for wandering attention spans.
NPR talked to nearly two dozen judges, attorneys and jurors who have participated in online jury trials to
