Historical Practices Regarding Disclosure of Personal Identifying Information of Jurors

Historical Practices Regarding
Disclosure of Personal Identifying Information of Jurors

James M. Thunder*

Introduction

It may be a shock to our contemporary minds that, during the 19th century and much of the 20th, personal identifying information of petit jurors was routinely made known to the public, not only after the trial but during the trial. Their names, occupations, and home addresses appeared in the local papers before or during trial. Indeed, even their pictures appeared in the papers before or during trial. It was not until 1977 in the “Nicky” Barnes case, a Southern District of New York case, that the first anonymous jury was empaneled.1 This article offers an historical perspective of practices regarding the disclosure of personal identifying information of petit jurors in the District of Columbia.

June 5, 1977

Current Practice

A white paper by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press published in 2010 concludes that “both the First Amendment [under the Free Speech and Free Press Clauses] and common law provide strong, albeit qualified, rights of access to this information.”2 The White Paper further states that a

1 Id. The anonymity was upheld in United States v. Barnes, 604 F.2d 121, 141 (2d Cir. 1979), because of the jurors’ fear of retaliation.

2 “The Right of Access to Juror Names and Addresses,” Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, nn.1, 2, 42-45 (2010, updated 2016) (hereafter “White Paper”) (citing cases) https://www.rcfp.org/journals/news-media-and-law-summer-2016/right-access-juror-names-an/.

defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial is also a basis upon which to object to the anonymity of jurors because jurors may conflate their needed anonymity with the defendant’s dangerousness.3

Current implementation of the qualified right to personal identifying information is reflected in two District of Columbia documents. In the “Jury Selection Plan for the Random Selection of Grand and Petit Jurors (as amended May 17, 2022)”4 of the District Court for the District of Columbia, the following rules are found.

15. Grand Juries: ***

15.5 Non-Disclosure of Names: The list of names drawn [from the Master Jury Wheel] may not be disclosed to any person except pursuant to this Plan or pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1867 or 1868.

***
18. Public Release of Juror Information (28 U.S.C. § 1863(b)(7)):

18.1. Petit Jurors: Names of prospective and sitting petit jurors shall not be disclosed to the public outside of open court, except upon order of the Court. A request for disclosure of petit juror names to the public must be made to the presiding judge.

18.2. Grand Jurors: As matters occurring before a grand jury are secret, and records, orders, and subpoenas relating to grand jury proceedings are maintained under seal, the release of the identity of grand jurors to the public or to the media presents significant legal and other issues. Accordingly, to protect and preserve grand jury secrecy, no disclosure is permitted to the public or to the media of the names, addresses, or telephone numbers of any member of a grand jury, except upon order of the Court. Should a request for information concerning the identity of a grand juror arise, the Court will determine whether the disclosure of such information is warranted, consistent with the provisions of FED. R. CRIM. P. 6(e) and 28 U.S.C. § 1867(f).

3 Id., n.10 (citing Keleher, The Repercussions of Anonymous Juries, 44 U.S.F. L. Rev. 531, 532, n. 6).

4 https://www.dcd.uscourts.gov/sites/dcd/files/D.D.C.JurySelectionPlan-20220517.pdf 2

In 2009, the Council for Court Excellence published the Journalists’ Handbook to the Courts in the District of Columbia.5 The handbook provided the following guidance to reporters.6

Accessing juror names.

In Superior Court and District Court names of potential jurors are not read aloud during voir dire. Rather, jurors are identified by number. A list of juror names is generally made part of the case record after the verdict.

How do I get a list of the jurors picked for the case I’m covering?

Superior Court: Names of jurors are not available until the verdict is returned. To obtain the list after the verdict, contact the D.C. Courts’ Public Information Officer. It is best to request the list in advance (i.e., during trial), so that the PIO can coordinate with the judge and courtroom clerk immediately following the verdict. By court rule, the Chief Judge may seal the juror list, though this rarely happens.

District Court: This is determined judge-by-judge. Some judges do not have a problem releasing names during trial, while others work differently. One judge wrote an opinion withholding juror names for seven days after the verdict was returned, and then released them.

Historical Practices

In colonial times, jurors were known to the community.7 Fast forward 100 years. What follows are examples, in chronological order from 1881 through

5 https://cdn.prod.website- files.com/659c0df344c9c8325dd821ca/66cf1fae0e144424656da04a_Journalists%27%20Handbook.pdf. According to the Handbook, it was “undertaken by the Council for Court Excellence and led by a distinguished group of journalists, judges, court public information officers, and media attorneys. Journalists’ Handbook to the Courts in the District of Columbia, at II-III (listing project members).

6 Journalists’ Handbook to the Courts in the District of Columbia, at 30-31. 7 White Paper, at 1.

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1949, of personal identifying information of petit jurors being publicly disclosed in proceedings in the courts of the District of Columbia.

The first is the prosecution by U.S. Attorney George B. Corkhill of Charles J. Guiteau for the assassination of President James Garfield. In November 1881, the names of the prospective jurors who were subject to voir dire were given to the press.8 When jury selection was complete, the names and occupations of the selected jurors were reported in the press.9 The Harper’s Weekly of December 1881 printed a picture of the jury (pasted below).10 At a later point, the press contained brief biographies of each juror.11

The second example is the prosecution by U.S. Attorney Ashley M. Gould of Lola Ida Bonine for murder in November 1901. The names and addresses of everyone in the jury pool for all cases in the courts in November 1901 were reported by the press.12 The names, addresses, occupations, and additional

8 “The Trial of Guiteau,” Evening Star, Nov. 14, 1881, at 1, col. 2, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1881-11-14/ed-1/seq-1/>

9 “The Trial of Guiteau,” Evening Star, Nov. 16, 1881, at 21, col. 2, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1881-11-16/ed-1/seq-1/

10 Harpers Weekly Vol. XXV- No. 1302, Dec. 3, 1881, at 1, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000020243258&view=1up&seq=385

11 “The Great Trial,” Evening Star, Jan. 21, 1882, at 2, col. 1, at cols. 3-4, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1882-01-21/ed-1/seq-2/>

12 “Juries in Local Courts,” Evening Star, Nov. 4, 1901, at 3, col. 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1901-11-04/ed-1/seq-3/>

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information of the jurors empaneled for the Bonine trial appeared in the press on the day the trial started, November 21 (pasted below).13

Their names and images appeared the following day (pasted below).14

13 “The Bonine Jury,” Evening Star, Nov. 21, 1901, at 2, col. 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1901-11-21/ed-1/seq-2/>

14 Evening Star, Nov. 22, 1901, at 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1901- 11-22/ed-1/seq-3/>

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A third example. U.S. Attorney Morgan H. Beach prosecuted the “Machen- Groff” case in 1904. A grand jury had indicted August W. Machen (known as “Bug Gus”) for accepting bribes in return for approving the Post Office Department’s purchase of postal letter boxes containing a small fastener patented by co-defendant Samuel Groff. The paper identified by name each juror subject to voir dire.15 When the trial started, the name and home address of each empaneled juror were printed.16 The paper also printed a group photograph of the jurors on the day of sentencing (pasted below).17

Later in 1904, U.S. Attorney Beach prosecuted James M.A. Watson, Jr., for embezzling $73,000 (over $2.5 million in 2025 dollars). The names, occupations, and home addresses of all the selected jurors were printed in the paper before the trial began (pasted below).18

15 “The Machen Trial,” Evening Star, Jan. 11, 1904, at 1, col. 1, at 10, col. 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1904-01-11/ed-1/seq-10/>

16 “Jury Selected and Trial Is On in P.O. Cases,” Washington Times, Jan. 12, 1904, at 1, col. 1, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1904-01-12/ed-1/seq-1/>

17 “Sentences Imposed,” Evening Star, Feb. 27, 1904, at 1, col. 1, at 11, col. 1, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1904-02-27/ed-1/seq-11/>.

18 “Trial of Watson Postponed Until After the Holidays,” Washington Times, Dec. 21, 1904, at 1, col. 1, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1904-12-21/ed-1/seq-1/> . As it happens, the front page of the newspaper that contained this listing of the jurors’ names can also be found framed on a wall at the Metropolitan Club of the City of Washington, because of another front page story about the “gutting” of the Metropolitan Club by fire.

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In 1907, U.S. Attorney Daniel W. Baker was both a victim of a train wreck and the prosecutor. A Baltimore & Ohio Railway train crashed into the back of a crowded passenger train stopped at the Terra Cotta Station (near the current day Fort Totten Metrorail Station). Fifty people were killed and dozens injured in the crash which occurred in a dense fog. The selected jurors’ names, ages, occupations, and home addresses were reported in the press on December 11,19 the day before the trial started.20 Their names and images appeared during the trial, on December 14 (pasted below).21

19 “File Immunity Plea,” Evening Star, Dec. 11, 1907, at 5, col. 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1907-12-11/ed-1/seq-5/>

20 “Terra Cotta Trial Begins; Jury Chosen,” Washington Times, Dec. 11, 1907, at 1, col. 1, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84026749/1907-12-11/ed-1/seq-1/>

21 Evening Star, Dec. 14, 1907, Part 3, at 1, col. 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1907-12-14/ed-1/seq-23/>

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22 “Bigamy as Reason,” Evening Star, Jan. 23, 1912, at 1, col. 8, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1912-01-23/ed-1/seq-1/>

23 Evening Star, Jan. 25, 1912, at 2, col 3, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1912-01-25/ed-1/seq-2/

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A much later example is from 1949 when the local paper printed a picture of the jurors in the case against “Axis Sally” for treason walking outside the courthouse. The caption also named each juror – in order.24

24 Evening Star, Jan. 26, 1949, at B1, <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1949- 01-26/ed-1/seq-22/> The image is from Historical Society of the District of Columbia https://dcchs.org/axis-sally-1950/

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Ahh – How Times Have Changed!

*About the Author

James M. Thunder is a retired attorney and author. From 2000 to 2022, Mr. Thunder was an attorney at Kellogg, Hansen, Todd, Figel & Frederick in Washington, D.C. He is a co-author, with K. Christopher Todd, of the upcoming book sponsored by the Historical Society of the D.C. Circuit, entitled THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 1801 – 2024 (A COMPENDIUM OF SHORT BIOGRAPHIES) (2025).

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