Jurors need COVID vaccines too, de Blasio says
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Queens residents summoned for jury duty stand outside Queens Borough Hall in October. Eagle file photo by Rachel Vick
By David Brand
With the coronavirus surging through the court system, 100 Queens residents visited Borough Hall Monday for jury duty. A total of 23 were picked to sit on grand juries.
Under a new proposal from Mayor Bill de Blasio, their jury summonses could come with an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccine.
De Blasio on Wednesday called on the state to prioritize prospective jurors for vaccines in order to keep the criminal justice system running smoothly and safely. He also said prosecutors and other district attorney staff should receive vaccines, too.
Though some court staffers, like court officers and clerks, are eligible for vaccine shots, other key officials, such as judges, prosecutors and defense attorneys, cannot yet access the vaccine unless they qualify based on age or some other factor.
“We want people to serve on juries. We want them to be safe. We need those juries to happen reliably,” de Blasio said. “Everyone who participates in a jury should have the opportunity to get vaccinated so they know that they can participate safely.”
Vaccines will help streamline a “bogged down” justice system, he said.
In mid-December, 16,000 cases were pending indictment with grand juries on hold, the New York Post reported. The state court system has recently launched “unindicted felony parts” in the five boroughs to clear cases. Nine judges, including two in Queens, heard or calendared 1,100 cases in the first week, according to the state’s chief judge.
“If we're going to fight back some of the challenges we've had, we need the criminal justice system to be working nonstop,” de Blasio said, adding that “it makes all the sense in the world” to vaccinate all parties entering courts.
The New York court system has suspended most in-person proceedings and there has been just one criminal jury trial in Queens since March.
Grand juries, meanwhile, are operating in New York City. Individuals chosen for grand juries serve for 20 days and each jury features 16 to 23 people.
Queens County Clerk Audrey Pheffer, the county’s commissioner of jurors, said she was surprised to learn of de Blasio’s comments because they came the same day that he announced a dose shortage would force the cancellation of 23,000 vaccination appointments.
She said she hopes New York City will reach a point where everyone who wants a vaccine can get one. In the meantime, she said, her staff are taking precautions to limit the spread of COVID-19 among jurors. Prospective jurors are spread out in small groups inside different rooms in Borough Hall and are forced to remain six feet apart, she said.
“We haven’t had any grand jurors that have had COVID, knock on wood,” Pheffer said. “I believe that people coming down for grand juries are safe.”
Grand jurors in other jurisdictions have come down with COVID-19, however.
The illness has also surged inside the Queens Criminal Court building and other courthouses in recent weeks. At least 10 staff members in the Queens DA’s Office have tested positive for COVID in January, Patch reported. Criminal court staffers reported positive tests Jan. 15 and 16, according to information published daily by the Office of Court Administration.
Two of Pheffer’s staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 this month, the reports show.
Amid the surge in court system COVID cases, de Blasio’s juror vaccine proposal has the support of state court leaders.
“We support anything that will allow us to return to some type of normalcy in court operations as soon as it is safe to do so,” said OCA spokesperson Lucian Chalfen.
