2008 Annual Report - Superior Court of California - County of Los ...

Court Vans Promote
Jury Service
Throughout the spring and summer, a dozen Court delivery vans
promoted jury service via colorful placards attached to both
sides of the vehicles. Proclaiming, “Pull Up a Chair … Jury
Service ... You Be the Judge,” the rolling billboards were the core
element in a highly visible campaign, reaching millions of motorists on the county’s freeways
and roads.
During the months-long awareness campaign, drivers also helped distribute a new
multimedia pamphlet, “A Look at Your Superior Court.” The marketing piece explains the Los
Angeles Superior Court’s role in the community,
and details how citizens performing jury service
perform a critical role in the justice system and
how important it is to respond to jury summonses.
Through a grant from the Administrative Office
of the Courts, the juror service pamphlet will be
distributed to each of the hundreds of thousands of
jurors reporting to a courthouse over the next year.
R.S.V.P. Postcards
Maybe it’s the red box announcing “Notice of Failure to
Respond to Your Jury Summons” that gets their
attention, but last year a simple postcard generated
impressive response rates month-after-month and helped jurors
avoid sanctions and a possible fine.
Since November 2006, the reminder postcard has garnered a 20 percent response rate from
jurors who previously ignored their summons. Exactly 86,056 postcard respondents ultimately
qualified for jury duty, and, of those, 21,710 served.
The card further reminds recipients that jury service is “mandatory” and a “vital aspect of
citizenship.” It also provides a telephone number for jury service registration any time of day —
(800) SRV-JURY or (800) 778-5879.
40 Delivering Justice to a Changing Community