The Roles of Grand Juries

I would like to respond to your two-part series (Aug. 6-7) of the functioning of Grand Juries in California and specifically in Los Angeles.

I have been personally very active with the L.A. Grand Juries for the past five years, and do not believe that your research and interviews have scratched more than the surface of some real problems here.

As you pointed out, the state legislators, from their early days up to the present, placed great value on the functioning of a citizens’ group to review the activities of its elected and appointed representatives. This is a good thing, because local officials, including the district attorney, Board of Supervisors, judges etc. would like to be rid of this Grand Jury nuisance!

The thought of a runaway Grand Jury, which really starts to sink its teeth into some of the really pressing problems of Los Angeles, has plagued the thoughts of all officials connected with the jury. This has resulted in a Grand Jury, led by a complaisant deputy district attorney, and overseen by lackluster judges, who are primarily concerned with seeing that nobody rocks the boat.

This results in investigations that come up empty-handed, and a complete failure to confront the more important concerns of local government. Few people would fail to rate smog control, efficient operations of water and sewage systems, crime control through police, prisons and judicial systems, redevelopment and efficient use of tax dollars generally as among the top priorities of this county. Yet, very few items on this list are found in the final report of Los Angeles Grand Juries. Why?

It isn’t that members of the Grand Jury aren’t aware of these matters. They all are! Yet, somehow or other, these top priority items are always eliminated in favor of boondoggles, such as; airport security, the Music Center, ticket scalping, freeways, listeriosis and welfare etc. This is not to say that all these items do not bear looking into, but there has to be priorities set by some person or group. With the deterioration of the poisonous air in this basin continuing, it’s possible that the population may well thin out to allow the other secondary problems to self-destruct.

To equate the problems of minuscule Alpine County with Los Angeles is to insult one’s intelligence. How can one talk about a Grand Jury that meets once a month and operates in the old New England town meeting ways?

To interview former Grand Jury foremen, who resigned under pressure and conflict, and equate their opinions to that of concerned jurors, who stuck it out for the prescribed year, is also extremely unfair as well as unscientific.

I’ll firmly agree that the present system is no good! Some other method, probably written and oral tests, has to be devised to be sure that people sit on the Grand Jury who are aware of the top priorities of Los Angeles. Concerned citizens can do a very effective job in making the bureaucracy toe the line and making the elected politicians aware that they can’t pull the wool over everyone’s eyes any more!

LEONARD SHAPIRO

Granada Hills