Jury scofflaws still here, scofflaw court isn't

It hasn't even been two years since the Philadelphia Courts reinstituted a crackdown on jury no-shows and it's already back to the drawing board.

Juror Scofflaw Court - designed to make an example of people who ignored their summons to jury duty by bringing them into court anyway - is no longer being used because it's just too costly to run and there aren't enough resources, said Jury Commissioner Daniel Rendine.

"It was unfortunate, but we gave it a shot, but it didn't bode well for the long run," he said.

Scofflaw court or not, blowing off jury duty is a problem in Philadelphia. Last year, only about 14 percent of people summoned for duty showed up when they were supposed to, according to the commissioner's office.

It's costly, too: Sending out summonses costs hundreds of thousands in postage and then some to send out court warrant officers.

The program was launched in 2000 by Common Pleas Court Judge John W. Herron but it took a hiatus for more than a decade and then brought in a few hundred scofflaws in 2014.

Rendine said the Philadelphia court system is working with the Pennsylvania Bar Association to find an alternative solution, expected sometime this fall.

Herron says this is a problem not unique to Philadelphia - it happens across the country.

"From the beginning, we were very reluctant to institute scofflaw court," he said. "We did not want to punish citizens, we wanted to educate citizens and have them perform jury duty for the right reasons, not have them worry about being penalized for not doing so."

Those who were around for scofflaw court might have found themselves paying a steep fine of up to $500 or even jail time.

Both Herron and Rendine said it's really no surprise that the new plan failed. Scofflaw courts aren't successful nearly anywhere else, either. It's a short-term fix to a much bigger problem.

Barbara Ashcroft, an associate law professor at Temple University who specializes in trial advocacy, said it's no wonder people are skipping - the process is a "nightmare."

At just $9 a day in compensation, she said, courts just aren't doing enough to motivate people to respond. Though jury duty is considered a civic responsibility, people have work to show up for and kids to care for, she said.

Ashcroft said the solution needs to come from a way to make jury duty more appealing, if at all possible.

"I think the courts need to figure out a way to get people to understand that jury duty is an essential part of our democracy," Ashcroft said. "Without it, it doesn't work."

@PatriciaMadej pmadej@phillynews.com