League Leader Helen Hutchison Speaking at the Exclusion of Jewish and Black Jurors Rally

In response to a League of Women Voters of Alameda County Council (ACC) request, LWVBAE Albany Youth Council representatives attended a rally on Tuesday, June 8th at 10 AM at the Alameda County Courthouse. Along with other ACC members, they were there to listen to Jewish and Black leaders speak out against unlawful discrimination in the selection of jurors for capital trials. About 20-30 attendees turned out on the sunny morning to support the overall effort to address racism and antisemitism in jury selection that happened over decades and may have corruptly affected trial outcomes.

Aidan Yu, who recently graduated, said the rally went well and captured photos of community leaders coming together to support Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price’s investigation into the growing scandal, with new evidence emerging that points to the exclusion of LGBTQ local residents from juries involving death penalty cases as well.

Tessa O’Donnell, a junior at Albany High, said she found the experience really interesting.

“…to hear all the views of so many different speakers. What they were saying was very inspiring, and they seemed very passionate,” O’Donnell said.

About the mood of the press conference and rally, O’Donnell said it was mixed.

“They expressed mostly disappointment about what had happened, but also positivity about DA Price trying to fix this,” she said.

To follow this developing story, see more in this recently published Oaklandside article; ACC members will also continue to track developments: https://oaklandside.org/2024/06/18/alameda-county-prosecutors-accused-using-slurs-lgbtq-murder-death-penalty-trials/