BILL NUMBER: ACR 118	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Morrow

                        MARCH 12, 1998

   Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 118--Relative to Juror
Appreciation Week.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   ACR 118, as introduced, Morrow.  Juror Appreciation Week.
   This measure would proclaim the week of May 10, 1998, to May 16,
1998, inclusive, and the 2nd full week in May, annually, to be Juror
Appreciation Week.
   Fiscal committee:  no.




   WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States of America and the
Constitution of the State of California provide for trial by jury as
an essential right of citizenship; and
   WHEREAS, The right to a jury trial in both criminal and civil
cases is guaranteed to every citizen as a fundamental component of
the American legal system; and
   WHEREAS, Over 500,000 California citizens annually participate in
the judicial process by serving as trial jurors; and
   WHEREAS, The Blue Ribbon Commission on Jury System Improvement
formed by the Judicial Council of California, the policy-making body
for California's courts, emphasized in its final report to the
California Legislature that an effective jury system is of critical
importance to public respect for the rule of law; and
   WHEREAS, The Jury Education Management Forum, a statewide
organization of jury managers operating under the auspices of the
California Association of Trial Court Administrators, is working in
partnership with the judiciary and staff of all California trial
courts to educate the public about jury service and to recognize
individuals who have generously committed their time in jury service
and in continuing support of the jury system; and
   WHEREAS, The Jury Education Management Forum, with the concurrence
of the California Association of Trial Court Administrators and the
Judicial Council of California, has requested that the week of May
10, 1998 to May 16, 1998, inclusive, and the second full week in May
of each year thereafter be designated as the annual Juror
Appreciation Week, a special time for the recognition of jury service
and the role it plays in a democratic society; and
   WHEREAS, The California Legislature joins with the Judicial
Council of California and the California trial courts in encouraging
all citizens to support the jury system and appear when summoned for
service, thereby fulfilling this most important civic responsibility
shared by every member of a democracy; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate
thereof concurring, That the week of May 10, 1998, to May 16, 1998,
inclusive, and the second full week in May of each year thereafter
shall be proclaimed and celebrated as annual Juror Appreciation Week
throughout the state, in honor of the thousands of citizens who
support the jury system, thereby making the cherished right of trial
by jury a reality; and, be it further
   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of
this resolution to the Jury Education Management Forum, the
California Association of Trial Court Administrators, and the
Judicial Council of California.