BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The verdict is in for one Buffalo lawmaker who believes juries and the process to select them could become more diverse.
It is a proposal that first crossed Council member Rasheed Wyatt's desk last week. A group of judges are pushing for juries to reflect the diversity of their community.
Research shows diverse juries have longer deliberations, discuss more case facts and make fewer inaccurate statements.
7News' Pheben Kassahun learned they now want Council member Wyatt's help to make this come to fruition in Buffalo.
Honorable Judge Kevin Carter spearheaded the effort to get what he feels is an important message to the Buffalo City Council. He wrote a letter to Wyatt pushing to diversify jurors in court.
In the letter, it states a committee has been formed.
Honorable Judge Kevin Carter for the 8th district admin told Kassahun over Zoom, "If we're able to convince them that this is a worthy cause, that it would better our communities by having diversity and inclusion and participation, then they could help us with that."
Judge Carter said this type of committee has never been formed in the legal system before.
The letter to Council member Wyatt reads:
Dear Council Member Wyatt,
On March 24, 2022, the UCS Eighth Judicial District joined a group of federal participants at the Robert H. Jackson Courthouse for a robust dialogue regarding jury diversification at both the state and federal levels.
At the core of our democracy is our legal system. At the core of our legal system is the jury. The jury decides the facts in both civil and criminal cases. Most citizens will be impacted at some point in their life by a conflict, such as divorce, a personal injury due to negligence, a contractual dispute, and for some, even criminal accusations, etc. Thus, jury participation is essential to a strong democracy. The UCS affirms our responsibility to promote a court system free from all forms of bias and discrimination and to promote jury participation that reflects the rich diversity of New York State.
To this end, we have convened monthly to discuss steps we can collectively take such as public service campaigns, public forums, and student outreach with a goal of improving jury participation and jury diversity in Buffalo, Erie County and Western New York. We would like an opportunity to meet with you and your legislative colleagues to speak about a collaboration that will ultimately improve jury diversity and prove beneficial to the citizens of Buffalo and Erie County. Please advise When We Can meet with you to further this discussion.
"When you hear about a jury pool, most often you think of criminal court. You never think of civil court. This is really, very important," Council member Rasheed Wyatt explained.
Wyatt said moving forward, he hopes the community gets involved and understands the importance of jury pools.
"I hate to tell people they have to do it but if we're going to get those outcomes, and we're not going to have jury pools, where you have a jury of your peers, we have to do something because those are some of things that we continue to fight nationwide as far as justice in the justice system," Wyatt explained.
Judge Carter said, "We've talked to members of the community to see what they thought would be the appropriate approach. We would listen to them and some of their concerns. We've done a study to see what would be the most feasible way to go about it."
This conversation among the committee and the council members is set to happen in the coming weeks.
