Jury duty, while a very important service required to maintain our legal system, has never been very popular. As almost anyone who has been called for jury duty will recount, it can be tedious and inconvenient, and on top of it, jurors aren't compensated very well for their time.
Every Illinois citizen over the age of 18 can be selected at random for jury duty. Bill 3075 will cut the number of jurors at civil trials from 12 to 6. Less jurors at trial will reduce the size of jury pools, which will reduce the number of individuals selected for jury duty, which will reduce the odds that each individual citizen is called for jury duty.
This bill also raises the compensation levels for jurors to $25 for the first day and $50 for each additional day of service. This compared with current law which sets jury compensation by county population size; the highest current jury pay is in Cook County, which pays $17.20/day.
Bill 3075 is supported by a large swath of the Illinois population, including several prominent legal interest groups, including the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association. It is also opposed by some other legal interest groups, typically those focused on civil defense. These defense groups argue that this bill favors plaintiffs, there aren't conclusive studies which support this assertion.
The bill's supporters claim that it makes civil trials more efficient and is designed to benefit jurors. Supporters also argue that the bill will save state and county governments a significant amount of money, which considering the current state of Illinois budget problems, could offer a great deal of relief. to Illinois. Supporters also cite the bill's increased jury compensation provision will make jurors happier, and result in more attentive and effective juries.
For more information, see these articles: here and here.
