Juries are the backbone of a fair justice system, yet many low- and moderate-income residents cannot afford to serve at $15/day. This results in juries that don’t reflect San Francisco, undermining trust in verdicts and slowing prosecutions.  

In March 2022, the San Francisco Treasurer’s Economic Justice Center, in partnership with the San Francisco Superior Court, Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, and Bar Association, launched “Be The Jury.”  Be The Jury fixes this problem by providing $75/day stipends to low-income jurors, producing juries that mirror our city’s racial and economic diversity and ensuring cases move forward fairly and efficiently. In doing so, it upholds the integrity of trials—critical to a safe and functioning justice system.  

Multiple evaluations have shown that the program effectively increases the racial and economic diversity of juries. The program is so popular the Golden State Warriors made two Public Service Announcements about it and there’s also a documentary by an award-winning documentarian.

Most recently, Be the Jury was featured on KQED’s Forum in their episode, “Most People Dread Jury Duty, But Some Never Get the Chance to Serve | KQED”.