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Served on a Jury Lately? Maine Bills Seek to Hike Compensation

A.J. Higgins
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MPBN

AUGUSTA, Maine - In her State of the Judiciary remarks to the Maine Legislature, Maine Supreme Court Chief Justice Leigh Saufley reflected on the state of juror compensation in Maine.

"Jurors should be appropriately compensated for their time and for the miles they drive to perform their civic duties," Saufley said.

It's an issue that has become problematic in court houses around Maine, where jurors called to duty are often unable to afford child care or transportation. Maine lawmakers are being asked to consider legislation to help make amends.
 
The right to a trial by jury has long been considered a cornerstone of the American justice system, but Saufley is concerned about Maine's low compensation rate of $10 per day and 15 cents per mile travel reimbursement.

Few lawmakers know the effects of the state's juror compensation program better than Democrat John Martin, who represents Maine's northernmost legislative district in Aroostook County.

"When a constituent of mine gets called to Superior Court in Houlton, if they happen to come from Allagash, it's 145 miles one way," Martin said, "and so you can well imagine what that means to them in terms of the potential expense."

Martin is among three lawmakers proposing bills to increase juror compensation. His would restore the daily compensation rate to $20 a day, exactly where it was in 1991 when the state weathered a major budget crisis that slashed the rate to $10 a day. The mileage rate under the bill would match the current state employee reimbursement rate of 44 cents per mile.

It would be the first increase in 34 years. Judicial Department spokeswoman Julie Finn says complaints about juror compensation lead list of topics that lawmakers bring to her each session.

"They have been contacted by a constituent who has called to say that they cannot afford to serve on a jury and that it's a hardship for them," Finn said. "Candidly, my response to that is that it is a hardship, it's jury duty, not jury work. We are not proposing that people make money, but just that they be reasonably reimbursed for their time, inconvenience and expenses. In our rural towns, I don't need to tell you that hardship is greater."
 

Credit A.J. Higgins / MPBN
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MPBN
Sen. Chris Johnson, a Somerville Democrat.

But what represents a hardship for one juror may just be a day at the office to another. Many employers, particularly those with collective bargaining agreements, will reimburse workers at their daily salary rate if they are called to serve on a jury. But for those who are self-employed, or who are forced to pay for child care in order to serve, jury duty can be a hardship. State Sen. Chris Johnson, a Somerville Democrat, sits on the Judiciary Committee.

"The woman with the children, on any other given day, they're still going to have the children, and unless you start scheduling court appearances on weekends that doesn't mean that there will be another working member of the household available to watch them or whatever other working arrangement might be possible," Johnson said. "It would be great if we had some sense of in - in these difficult times how women and men are represented in our juries and how much this sort of an expense is a factor."

"What jurors do is important and we should treat them and hold them in the same high esteem and provide this compensation," said Avery Day. Representing the Maine State Bar Association, Day told the Judiciary Committee that jurors who are less than happy with the terms of their service may take it out on attorneys in the case with their verdicts.

District Attorney Geoff Rushlau says prosecutors face the same potential fate. "Angry jurors probably aren't on the side of the state in a criminal case, if they feel that they are somehow being deprived of their liberty, forced to appear for a pittance, then who else but to take it out on but the state of Maine in a criminal case?" Rushlau said.

All three bills crafted to increase juror compensation are slated to be reviewed by the Judiciary Committee next Tuesday.