A March 13 decision by a criminal grand jury to not seek indictments in the Josiah Lawson case gives fresh proof that terminology is key and the general public is easily confused with the concepts of civil and criminal grand juries. They are not the same thing and they do not deal in the same matters.
The term “civil grand jury” means different things to different people. First, we are not a criminal grand jury. We do not decide guilt or innocence of individuals accused of a crime. We can recommend to the District Attorney that she take action if our investigations uncover possible wrongdoing by office holders or public administrative officials, but that is a rare action.
Criminal grand juries are empaneled when law enforcement or the courts have a specific issue under consideration. Such juries may serve for short periods of time and they are not used often in this area. Conversely, civil grand juries serve for a year at a time, studying multiple issues of concern to the jurors, complainants, or as directed by state law (as in jail inspections).
These two types of grand juries are vastly different in scope and goals, but both serve a serious need and require observance of secrecy to work effectively.
Most importantly, civil grand juries are not partisan. We all have our views, but we are trained to leave our personal beliefs at the door and delve into the world of facts as they are, not as we wish they might be. The findings we reveal after our investigations and reports are completed are borne of sometimes tedious homework and collaboration. Our goal is not a Perry Mason “gotcha” moment, but a realization that maybe we could do this or that better! Hopefully that realization results in recommendations our government officials can and will use.
Another thing that cannot be emphasized enough is the difference between the Jurors’ Association and a sitting grand jury. The Association is composed of veterans of previous grand juries who have no official connection to any current investigation. We only involve ourselves in prodding government to take seriously reports and recommendations made by the previous grand jury.
Sitting grand juries often benefit from the Association because it can communicate more freely with the media and educate the public about reports already issued. Current grand juries also benefit from its willingness to assist in the interview process of prospective jury applicants. This separation of tasks is critical. The sitting grand jury must maintain confidentiality for its investigations and reports to be taken seriously. Taking such reports seriously is already a difficult enough challenge when government entities sometimes ignore or minimize the validity of the reports and relevancy of the recommendations.
In a previous article we discussed the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County in the late summer of 2018 (“Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury: Serving the citizens,” Times-Standard, March 2, Page A4). Though this fire, with its death and destruction, did not happen here, lessons should be learned about taking civil grand jury reports seriously. The Butte County Civil Grand Jury previously warned of inadequate evacuation routes, but Butte County supervisors did not heed the recommendations. Fires, earthquakes, tsunamis and floods are known local hazards. However, we have another known hazard studied by the civil grand jury in 2017 — sea rise. Humboldt Waste Management Authority has its facilities sitting right at the water table on Hawthorne Street in Eureka and the civil grand jury recommended it consider possible sea rise, whether sudden or gradual, resulting in a recommendation to make plans for a possible relocation of their infrastructure. Who is ultimately responsible for what happens when the calamity is already upon them? Is this a far-fetched scenario? Ask the residents of Paradise now if they should have heeded Butte Civil Grand Jury recommendations. There are countless other examples available … and we will offer them as this series continues.
Jim Glover writes on behalf of the Humboldt County Grand Jurors’ Association. This monthly column about the Humboldt County Civil Grand Jury is provided by the Humboldt County Chapter of the California Grand Jurors’ Association (CGJA). We provide the public with informational and educational materials on the California Grand Jury system. Please contact the civil grand jury with complaints or issues you believe need to be investigated. For information on the Jurors’ Association email us: hcccgja@gmail.com.
April 6, 2019
Eureka Times-Standard
By Jim Glover
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