I was recently told by an ex-cop that police can order postal patrons directly and immediately to court if the court is short on potential j...

Question

I was recently told by an ex-cop that police can order postal patrons directly and immediately to court if the court is short on potential jurors. This sounds like baloney to me. Is this even remotely true?

Answer

Yup, and not just postal patrons. They can pull anyone off the street. One judge in Alameda County, Hayward branch made headlines when not enough people showed up for jury duty and he ordered his bailiff to go down to the clerk's office to the line to pay traffic fines and/or get hearing dates and bring everyone in line up for jury duty.

However, even though the ex-cop and the judge were right about the law, the judge was disciplined by the Judicial Council for doing it. So apparently this is one of those laws that is on the books, but not really meant to be enforced.

Answer

Mr. McCormick is right. The procedure you describe is not the one courts normally use, but there is no law that says the normal procedure is the only one allowed.