Dickinson wants more transparency for civil grand juries
Published: Tuesday, Apr. 19, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.They are the local watchdogs – county grand juries that have exposed problems in public agencies from Child Protective Services to libraries and municipal finances.
Always, grand jury proceedings have been secret in both civil and criminal cases.
That would change statewide for the sworn testimony portion of civil investigations under a bill authored by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento.
The measure would open sworn testimony to the public and give targets of grand jury investigations 45 days to make a case for corrections before a final report is issued.
And it would allow witnesses to be accompanied by their attorneys while testifying.
Dickinson, who spent 17 years as a Sacramento County supervisor and who helped set policy for county agencies examined by grand juries, is an unabashed critic of how the volunteer citizen panels operate.
The bill, AB 622, "would give the public the confidence that there is not a motive in the grand jury proceedings that is less than pure," Dickinson said in an interview.
The legislation follows a string of scathing grand jury reports issued in Sacramento County in recent years.
Among them:
• A 2009 report, titled "Nothing Ever Changes – Ever," chastised Sacramento County for "persistent, recurring and systemic problems resulting in child abuse related deaths." It marked the grand jury's seventh such probe into CPS – all during Dickinson's tenure on the Board of Supervisors.
• In 2008, a grand jury recommended ouster of the Sacramento Public Library director over an alleged overbilling and kickback scheme involving two former employees and outlined an array of concerns with library management.
All five supervisors (including Dickinson at the time) are on the library's governing board.
• In 2007, a grand jury report accused city and county leaders of deceiving the public in their quest to build a Kings arena with tax dollars.
Dickinson was a leading proponent of the arena ballot measure, which failed with 80 percent opposition at the ballot box in November that year.
At the time, the grand jury received sharp criticism from both city and county officials and others for issuing a report that failed to offer any evidence of wrongdoing.
The arena report was a "screed … riddled with factual errors and was clearly the opinion of one person" on the panel, Dickinson said last week.
He called it an example of abuse of the process that needs reform.
J. Clark Kelso, professor of law at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, said the changes in AB 622 would bring "greater legitimacy and transparency" to the grand jury process.
The idea that testimony in civil investigations must be delivered in secret, as the law now requires, "just doesn't make sense to me," Kelso said.
"It's not going to improve the quality of the testimony if it's private," he said. "These are matters of public interest."
But opponents say the changes in the bill are not needed and would actually hinder civil investigations by 19 jurors who volunteer to root out public wrongdoing.
And, they say, it would dissuade whistle-blowers from coming forward to testify in secret about abuses.
"Dickinson has a great disdain for the grand jury," said Don Prange, foreman of the current Sacramento County grand jury. "He made it clear."
The bill is opposed by the California District Attorneys Association, which represents 58 district attorneys and 2,700 prosecutors in the state, and by some current and former grand jurors.
"I think we're very supportive of the grand jury system," said Scott Thorpe, chief executive of the prosecutors' association. "We think it has worked to be a good watchdog on local government. We don't think these changes should be made."
The Sacramento County Grand Jurors' Association supports that view.
"There's a personal agenda going on here," Joe Maloney, president of the 60-member association for former grand jurors, said in a reference to Dickinson.
Dickinson said there's no question that his years on the Board of Supervisors were a factor behind the bill.
"This was really generated by my own observations over time," he said. "Of interest to me is that my observations are neither unique nor singular. That those who have looked at the operations of civil grand juries have made the same recommendation over the years."
AB 622 is similar to bills that were approved in the Assembly in years past but were not enacted.
The Dickinson bill was approved earlier this month in the Assembly Judiciary Committee and was sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
Always, grand jury proceedings have been secret in both civil and criminal cases.
That would change statewide for the sworn testimony portion of civil investigations under a bill authored by Assemblyman Roger Dickinson, D-Sacramento.
The measure would open sworn testimony to the public and give targets of grand jury investigations 45 days to make a case for corrections before a final report is issued.
And it would allow witnesses to be accompanied by their attorneys while testifying.
Dickinson, who spent 17 years as a Sacramento County supervisor and who helped set policy for county agencies examined by grand juries, is an unabashed critic of how the volunteer citizen panels operate.
The bill, AB 622, "would give the public the confidence that there is not a motive in the grand jury proceedings that is less than pure," Dickinson said in an interview.
The legislation follows a string of scathing grand jury reports issued in Sacramento County in recent years.
Among them:
• A 2009 report, titled "Nothing Ever Changes – Ever," chastised Sacramento County for "persistent, recurring and systemic problems resulting in child abuse related deaths." It marked the grand jury's seventh such probe into CPS – all during Dickinson's tenure on the Board of Supervisors.
• In 2008, a grand jury recommended ouster of the Sacramento Public Library director over an alleged overbilling and kickback scheme involving two former employees and outlined an array of concerns with library management.
All five supervisors (including Dickinson at the time) are on the library's governing board.
• In 2007, a grand jury report accused city and county leaders of deceiving the public in their quest to build a Kings arena with tax dollars.
Dickinson was a leading proponent of the arena ballot measure, which failed with 80 percent opposition at the ballot box in November that year.
At the time, the grand jury received sharp criticism from both city and county officials and others for issuing a report that failed to offer any evidence of wrongdoing.
The arena report was a "screed … riddled with factual errors and was clearly the opinion of one person" on the panel, Dickinson said last week.
He called it an example of abuse of the process that needs reform.
J. Clark Kelso, professor of law at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge School of Law, said the changes in AB 622 would bring "greater legitimacy and transparency" to the grand jury process.
The idea that testimony in civil investigations must be delivered in secret, as the law now requires, "just doesn't make sense to me," Kelso said.
"It's not going to improve the quality of the testimony if it's private," he said. "These are matters of public interest."
But opponents say the changes in the bill are not needed and would actually hinder civil investigations by 19 jurors who volunteer to root out public wrongdoing.
And, they say, it would dissuade whistle-blowers from coming forward to testify in secret about abuses.
"Dickinson has a great disdain for the grand jury," said Don Prange, foreman of the current Sacramento County grand jury. "He made it clear."
The bill is opposed by the California District Attorneys Association, which represents 58 district attorneys and 2,700 prosecutors in the state, and by some current and former grand jurors.
"I think we're very supportive of the grand jury system," said Scott Thorpe, chief executive of the prosecutors' association. "We think it has worked to be a good watchdog on local government. We don't think these changes should be made."
The Sacramento County Grand Jurors' Association supports that view.
"There's a personal agenda going on here," Joe Maloney, president of the 60-member association for former grand jurors, said in a reference to Dickinson.
Dickinson said there's no question that his years on the Board of Supervisors were a factor behind the bill.
"This was really generated by my own observations over time," he said. "Of interest to me is that my observations are neither unique nor singular. That those who have looked at the operations of civil grand juries have made the same recommendation over the years."
AB 622 is similar to bills that were approved in the Assembly in years past but were not enacted.
The Dickinson bill was approved earlier this month in the Assembly Judiciary Committee and was sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
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