Since the pandemic started, we have assisted our clients with hybrid in-person/online jury selections. Hardship declarations show that most jurors are not seeking to be excused because of fears about COVID-19. Instead, jurors are seeking to be excused through hardship because their lives are upended by the pandemic. Examples include children who are home from school, elderly relatives removed from elder-care facilities, and individuals abruptly facing unemployment or severely reduced work hours.
Of the 65 hardship requests we reviewed, only nine of those potential jurors expressed fear of contracting COVID-19. Those individuals mentioned being in a high-risk group or having to take public transit to the courthouse, which they believed increased their risk of exposure. Though the pandemic does raise concerns about health and safety during in-person jury trials, the overwhelming majority of hardship questionnaires do not list concerns about COVID-19 as the basis for a hardship.
One truism of jury selection is: “jurors who are less likely to complete hardship forms are more likely to serve.” In the COVID-19 era, who are those jurors? Our other recent posts explore this question and are a must-read for any attorneys litigating cases during the pandemic.