Bill providing for juror secrecy struck down

CALIFORNIA–In mid-March, a bill that would require trial jurors in criminal actions to be identified only by number instead of by name was voted down by a committee of the state assembly.

The proposed legislation also would have forbidden counsel or the court to elicit personal juror identification information during jury selection in a criminal action, and would have made violation of the provision punishable as contempt of court.

The bill had been introduced by Rep. Lynne Leach (R-Contra Costa) and was opposed by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. (A.B. 310)