Southeastern Minnesota courts get 'corrective action' on jury diversity

ROCHESTER - After years of work, courts in southeastern Minnesota have been ordered to take a small step toward addressing a lack of diversity in juries.

Third Judicial District Chief Judge Joseph Bueltel of Steele County issued a corrective order last week calling for courts to translate forms into Spanish, Somali, Hmong and Karen in response to concerns about jury pool representation.

The order also adds language informing potential jurors they should "be able to understand the evidence, the lawyers' arguments, and the court's instructions, and be able to discuss the case with other jurors in English."

But the order also denies a series of recommendations from judicial committees designed to reduce racial disparities in jury pools, such as providing translators for jurors and sending out jury notices at least twice. The committees also recommended updating county jury pool lists every six months and redrawing jury panels in some cases until they meet representation guidelines.

Bueltel denied those recommendations, citing court precedent and noting that federal and most state courts require jurors to speak and understand English. He also argued redrawing juries could violate state statutes on randomly selecting juries and could spark a constitutional challenge over discriminating against certain jurors.

A spokesperson for the state court system said Bueltel declined to comment on the order, believing it speaks for itself.

The Third Judicial District encompasses 11 counties and stretches east from Waseca, Rice and Faribault counties.

In Dodge County, 4.7% of residents identify as Black, Latino or Native American but none served on juries during that time. In Mower County, about 5.2% of jurors in 2020 and 2021 were Latino, while Latinos make up 9.8% of residents.

Meg Mitchell, chief public defender for the Third Judicial District, hailed the order as a good step toward reducing racial disparities on juries.

"This opens the door to more progress," she said.

Mitchell said this could be one of the first instances in which a judicial district in Minnesota has implemented proposals to make juries better reflect the state's population. Yet she and others point out more could be done to address language barriers among jurors.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations-MN, said not allowing translators for jurors who struggle with English "creates an imbalance" in the jury, especially for defendants with similar language issues.

Hussein agreed Bueltel's order was a good step, but he said it just scratches the surface of necessary and overdue changes to improve the legal system for an increasingly diverse population.