Navigation Remote jury selection during a pandemic
The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic is not the first-time courts have shut down. In the early part of this century, the “Spanish-flu” wreaked havoc on this country and the third branch of government.
While pandemics vary in severity, the pandemic of 1918, sometimes termed the “Spanish flu,” is generally regarded as the most deadly disease event in human history, killing over 40 million people in less than a year. This 1918 pandemic also had another notable characteristic: while most deaths from influenza occur in the very young or very old, the deaths from this pandemic were primarily in those aged 15–35, with 99% of deaths in those under 65. — Pandemic Influenza Bench Guide, 2019 Edition
In the latter part of June 2020, 120 prospective jurors residing in Broward County received a summons for jury duty. Like all summons in Florida, the prospective jurors received their notices for jury duty in the mail and were selected randomly by a computer using the Florida driver’s license data base.
