Why did the Judicial Council authorize drafting new plain English jury instructions?
In 1996 the Blue Ribbon Commission on Jury System Improvement concluded “jury instructions as presently given in California and elsewhere are, on occasion, simply impenetrable to the ordinary juror.” The commission recommended that jury instructions be redrafted in more understandable language. In response, the Judicial Council created the Task Force on Jury Instructions in 1997, and directed that it draft comprehensive, legally accurate jury instructions that are readily understood by the average juror.
