THERE IS A tenet of American democracy that has fallen by the wayside in most every state except for one: California. It’s the convening of civil grand juries, which are bodies of ordinary citizens that investigate issues in public government and then compile a report and make recommendations. Yet few residents are aware of them and what they do.
Part of the problem is that many people confuse civil grand juries with criminal grand juries, which go over evidence presented by prosecutors to determine if an indictment is warranted. But civil grand juries in California are different in that they carry out a watchdog function over local governments and some nonprofits, which in this state means 58 counties.
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