Alameda County s first Black public defender is trying to fix the problem with juries
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Alameda County Public Defender Brendon Woods, sitting on the steps of the county courthouse, is leading a local effort to make jury selection more representative.Yalonda M. James / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
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Since being appointed Alameda County’s first Black public defender in 2012, Brendon Woods has been outspoken on a number of issues of criminal justice reform, including America’s history of discriminatory jury selections.Yalonda M. James / The ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
Brendon Woods started banging the drum for jury reform in 2018.
That was the year Alameda County’s first Black public defender spoke out against a Superior Court effort that would force residents to appear for jury duty at any courthouse in the county rather than the one closest to them. Woods said this would make jury participation harder for low-income Black and brown residents