What are the sources for jury pool selection? Describe the process for selecting a venire. What are some common excuses for avoiding jury service?

What will be an ideal response?

Answers may vary.Representativeness of jury pools that includes both demographic and attitudinal diversity is a worthwhile goal. But how should courts go about forming the venire in order to reach this goal? For many years, voter registration lists were used as the primary source for jury pool selection. However, such lists underrepresent certain segments of the community because smaller percentages of young people, the poor, Latinos, and other minorities register to vote. Recently, other sources such as lists of licensed drivers, persons receiving public assistance, and unemployed people have supplemented voter lists as a source of prospective jurors. From those persons who are eligible for jury service, members of the venire are randomly selected and summoned to appear at the courthouse for jury service.One of the concerns is that people will often go to great length to avoid serving on a jury, and some have concocted creative ways to escape jury service. Physical illnesses are also a frequently used excuse. Prospective jurors sometimes avoid jury service by claiming personal hardship. Some judges are sympathetic to claims of ill health, business necessity, vacation plans, and the like. But many other judges are unwilling to dismiss individual jurors because of perceived "hardships." During the jury selection for the O. J. Simpson civil trial, Judge Hiroshi Fujisaki responded to one prospective juror who had requested dismissal because she suffered from claustrophobia, "How big is your living room? Is it as big as this courtroom?" She remained in the pool. When prospective jurors are excused for reasons of hardship, the result is a further winnowing down of the pool. Thus, even before the formal jury selection begins in a courtroom-that is, before jurors are questioned by attorneys and the judge-some people have been removed from the panel of prospective jurors. These removals can distort the representativeness of juries.