The Supreme Court of Maryland’s Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure has asked members of the Bar to share feedback regarding a possible expansion of peremptory challenges in Maryland and additions of Washington state’s Rule 37 and Cal. Civ. Proc. § 231.7 to the Maryland Rules.
As background, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court recently requested that the Rules Committee consider whether to recommend changes to the current scope of voir dire. Noting that the topic of voir dire was raised during the General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session, the Chief Justice asked the Committee to address possible changes to the voir dire process at its May meeting. A Special Subcommittee on Voir Dire was established to further review the issue and determined that adopting a Rule like Washington state’s Rule 37 would address concerns about the use of peremptory challenges. The Subcommittee also discussed expanding the scope of any rule to protect the groups enumerated in Cal. Civ. Proc. § 231.7.
As the statewide association for the legal profession, MSBA has engaged in consideration of voir dire implementation and expansion through: 1) MSBA member committees and Pattern Jury Instruction publications, 2) engagement with the Supreme Court’s Rules Committee, and 3) legislative advocacy and monitoring.
MSBA has produced and published pattern jury instructions that impact voir dire implementation, with the last civil instruction updates in 2018 and criminal instruction updates in 2020. The MSBA groups that have produced these jury instructions, the Pattern Jury Instructions Civil and Criminal Subcommittees, are in the process of reviewing and updating the questions. MSBA is currently providing input to the Special Voir Dire Subcommittee of the Supreme Court’s Rules Committee on MSBA’s civil and criminal voir dire questions.
MSBA requests any members with substantive feedback or practice-specific expertise to attend the in-person Rules Committee meeting on June 20, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. at the Maryland Judicial Center, Rooms 236-238, 187 Harry S. Truman Parkway, Annapolis, MD 21401, and provide comments regarding whether certain provisions of Washington Rule 37 or Cal. Civ. Proc. § 231.7 should or should not be incorporated into a Maryland rule. If you are unable to join the in-person meeting, you may email your comments to [email protected] at least 48 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting, and also send a copy to [email protected].
Please contact MSBA at [email protected] with any questions or for further information.
Relevant Links:
June 20, 2024 Rules Committee Meeting Agenda
Washington Rule 37 – Jury Selection
Cal. Civ. Proc. § 231.7