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Committee on Jury PolicyCharge and DesignationA. Charge The right to trial by jury is one of our most sacred constitutional rights. Jury service offers citizens an opportunity to participate in the justice system. In Vermont, we entrust jurors with the heavy responsibility of deciding guilt or innocence in criminal cases and deciding liability, and if appropriate, damages in civil cases. For the courts to dispense justice, the jury system must work fairly, competently and accurately; and Vermont citizens must willingly serve as jurors. Indeed, even the perception that the jury system is not working optimally undermines public trust and confidence in the judicial system. The Supreme Court Committee on Jury Communications, Understanding and Deliberation has recently completed the first phase of its work and delivered a report to the Supreme Court, along with proposals for amending civil, criminal and jury administration rules. Following the work of jury communication committees in other states, the committee has identified areas in which communications with juries, juror understanding of the instructions and jury deliberation can be improved. These issues are, however, tied to larger issues of jury policy in Vermont, and the larger issues have not been examined in recent years. As with the issues explored by the earlier committee, the fundamental questions of jury size, degree of agreement and selection procedure have been analyzed in other states, and some states have made policy changes by constitutional amendment, statute or court rule. The charge and designation of the Supreme Court Committee on Jury Communications, Understanding and Deliberation charged the committee A to examine the current rules and policies governing the operation of juries as related to their ability to fairly and accurately discharge their function in the justice system.@ It restricted the inquiry, however, to eleven specific areas and did not seek an examination of the broader policy issues governing our jury system. It also emphasized improvements that could be made by court rule. By this charge and designation, the Court begins the process of examination of fundamental jury policies, not evaluated by the original committee, with the understanding that any recommended policy changes may require constitutional and statutory changes, as well as new court rules. Accordingly, the Vermont Supreme Court hereby establishes a Committee on Jury Policy to examine the current constitutional provisions, statutes, rules and policies governing the operation of juries as related to their ability to fairly and accurately discharge their function in the justice system. The committee is specifically charged with examining the following issues: 1. Whether the current size of juries, twelve persons in both civil and criminal cases, is optimum for both kinds of cases. 2. Whether the requirement of unanimous agreement on a verdict of all jurors is optimum for both civil and criminal cases. 3. Whether the current methods of conducting voir dire in civil and criminal cases is appropriate. 4. Whether the current policy on number of challenges, grounds for challenges and procedure for challenges, as set out in 12 V.S.A. ' 1941, V.R.C.P. 47 & V.R.Cr. P. 24, are appropriate. 5. Whether jury procedures should authorize the use of anonymous juries in civil or criminal cases with accompanying procedures. 6. Whether jury selection methods fairly produce a cross-section of Vermont adult citizens on juries, and if not, what procedural changes should be made to improve the representativeness of juries 7. Whether the policies and procedures for use of special verdicts and interrogatories in civil cases, as set out in V.R.C.P. 49, are appropriate. The committee may examine other jury policy issues which it finds bear on the fairness, cost and accuracy of jury verdicts. The committee shall report to the Supreme Court by July 1, 2002. If the committee recommends changes in provisions of the Vermont Constitution, statutes or court rules, it shall draft and propose specific amendments consistent with its recommendation. The Committee may initiate rulemaking pursuant to Administrative Order No. 11 and shall be the proponent of rulemaking pursuant to that Order. B. Designation The Supreme Court hereby appoints to the Committee the following persons:
The Court Administrator shall employ a reporter for drafting the report of the committee and any recommendations. C. Expenses In the performance of their duties, the non-Judicial Branch members of the Committee shall be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses. The Judicial Branch members shall be reimbursed the normal state employee expenses. The Commissioner of Finance and Management shall pay from the judicial appropriation all expenses of the Committee when claims are submitted on proper vouchers approved by the Court Administrator or his designee. Done in chambers at Montpelier, this ___th day of November, 2001. _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________ _______________________________________
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