Nancy Skinner will allow Californians with most former felony convictions who are no longer on parole or probation to serve on juries.Īdvocates say the law brings California one step closer to solving racial disparities that exist in the jury selection process: One in five African-American men in California is barred from jury service because of a prior felony, according to 2017 research. “Walking home, it was, am I ever going to be able to transcend this criminal background that I have? It’s followed me since it happened and I’ve worked and worked and worked to put it behind me, and this is now a perpetual reminder.” That I was back to being a full-fledged citizen,” Binnall said. “When I finally became an attorney, I sort of felt like I had gotten over the hump. But he learned the day of his jury summons in 2009 that California prohibits former felons for life from serving on juries. While on parole, he went to Thomas Jefferson School of Law, graduating and maxing-out his seven-year sentence the same week. He checked “yes.”īinnall had served prison time after a homicide conviction for driving drunk as a 23-year-old graduate student in 1999, crashing his car and killing his friend and passenger. Question #7 asked if he had ever been convicted of a felony. Then he was summoned for jury duty at the same courthouse, and arriving via a special entrance designated for attorneys, began filling out his juror questionnaire. He worked as a defense lawyer in San Diego on several homicide cases. James Binnall is no stranger to the courtroom. People with former felony convictions can vote in California, but they can’t serve on juries.
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