So far, only the legal teams of the defendant, prosecution, and the under trial were offered details on jury empanelment, but this is set to change after a ruling from the Apex Court of Massachusetts. The Supreme Court has decided that this information should be accessible to all as part of the judicial records which are routinely made available to the public.
The justices who decided on the matter said that in the interest of maintaining transparency in judicial proceedings, this information should be offered on request like other court records. However, they did create some room for margin by stating that upon the decision of the presiding court, in certain cases, the information could be kept away from the public domain.
In essence, from now on, anybody who is running a court records search would not only get details on the plaintiff and the defendant but also on the jurors who deliberated in the matter. The data would not only include their names but also their contact information.
Given the sensitive nature of certain cases, particularly criminal trials, the decision of the Supreme Court has created a fair amount of panic among people who expect to be called in for jury duty. Many are now concerned for their safety as a person being tried could use their contact details to harass, intimidate or even harm the jurors to turn the tide in his favor.
One of residents said that this would give people the added impetus to stay away from jury duty as they would be endangering their lives and that of their loved ones because of a criminal matter that does not involve them.
Controversial Ruling in Massachusetts Makes Juror Information Public!
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