Racial Representativeness of Juries: An Analysis of Source List and Administrative Effects on the Jury Pool

Abstract

Responding to the concerns of the Lucas County, Ohio, Court of Common Pleas (Toledo) that juries underrepresent African-Americans, we evaluate the racial and Hispanic representativeness of the list of registered voters, licensed drivers, and various lists derived from the original source list, which leads to the list of potential jurors. The list of registered voters is more representative for African-Americans but less representative for Hispanics than the list of licensed drivers in Lucas County. The major loss in racial representativeness appears in the lists derived from the source list. Administrative improvements would produce the greatest increase in racial and Hispanic representativeness in jury lists.