Norton to Introduce Bill to Increase D.C. Juror Pay, After Securing Increase in Federal Juror Pay
Press Release
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today announced she will introduce legislation, the District of Columbia Juror Pay Parity Act, to increase the pay of D.C. Superior Court jurors. Currently, D.C. Superior Court jurors receive $30 per day, and, under the Home Rule Act, only the D.C. Courts and Congress have the authority to increase D.C. juror pay. Norton's bill provides that D.C. jurors receive pay equal to federal jurors. Last week, Norton helped secure a pay increase from $40 to $50 per day for federal jurors in the omnibus spending bill, the first increase to federal juror pay in 28 years. On March 19, 2018, Norton and Representatives Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Trey Gowdy (R-SC) wrote the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government requesting the increase in pay for federal jurors. The Norton bill will also match the enhanced pay federal jurors receive for lengthy service.
"Congress was overdue in raising the daily pay of federal jurors; now it is time to follow suit and raise the pay of D.C. Superior Court jurors," Norton said. "Because Congress controls D.C.'s courts, it is up to Congress to enact a pay increase for local jurors here in the nation's capital. Jurors are just as indispensable to the D.C. justice system as they are to the federal justice system and deserve the same fair compensation."
Under the 1997 Revitalization Act, Congress took over responsibility for paying for the D.C. courts and most other state-like functions. The D.C. courts, however, have always been under the control of Congress, even when D.C. funded them. The Home Rule Act of 1973 prohibits the District government from "enact[ing] any act, resolution or rule with respect to any provision of title 11" of the D.C. Code. Title 11 provides that the Board of Judges of the Superior Court shall set juror pay, but that the pay may not exceed the pay of federal jurors. Norton will also seek an increase in federal appropriations for the D.C. courts to offset the juror pay increase.
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