[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 61 (Thursday, April 8, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E354]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     INTRODUCTION OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA JUROR PAY PARITY ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 8, 2021

  Ms. NORTON. Madam Speaker, today I introduce the District of Columbia 
Juror Pay Parity Act, which would require that D.C. Superior Court 
jurors receive the same pay as federal jurors. The importance of jurors 
to our system of law is driven home by the current trial of Derek 
Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.
  Currently, Superior Court jurors are paid $40 per day, and, under the 
Home Rule Act, only the D.C. courts and Congress have the authority to 
increase Superior Court juror pay. In the fiscal year 2018 omnibus 
appropriations bill, Congress increased federal juror pay to $50 per 
day, the first increase to federal juror pay in 28 years. My bill would 
give Superior Court jurors the same pay.
  Under the National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government 
Improvement Act of 1997 (Pub. L. 105-33), Congress took responsibility 
for paying for the D.C. courts and other state-like functions provided 
by D.C. The D.C. courts, however, have always been under the control of 
Congress, even when they were funded by the District. The Home Rule Act 
prohibits the District government from enacting any law relating to 
Title 11 of the D.C. Code. Title 11 provides that the Board of Judges 
of the Superior Court sets juror pay, but that the pay may not exceed 
the pay of federal jurors. Therefore, this bill, or action by the D.C. 
courts, is necessary to increase Superior Court juror pay.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

                          ____________________