Before ending its session this year, the state Legislature passed the Jury of Our Peers Act; it’s critical that Gov. Hochul veto it.
The bill would repeal New York’s ban on felons serving on juries — going far beyond the current administrative process that allows New Yorkers with a single felony conviction to get their jury-service-eligibility restored.
The bill’s sponsors, state Sen. Cordell Cleare and Assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry, insist this would benefit black New Yorkers by shifting the racial composition of juries.
But in reality, the bill’s most consequential result would be to tilt the scales of justice yet further toward criminals.
Potential jurors who are convicted felons would still be unlikely to serve; instead, prosecutors would be forced to use some of their limited number of peremptory challenges during jury selection to reject them.
Continue reading the entire piece here at the New York Post
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Hannah Meyers is director of the policing and public safety initiative at the Manhattan Institute. Adapted from City Journal online.
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