Some questions about Fitzgerald's grand jury

October 25, 2005 5:20 PM

So there's a grand jury that the special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald has empaneled. 23 members, residents of Wahington D.C. Some questions.

Are they anonymous?
Sequestered?
Paid?
How are they chosen, by jury duty draw?
Will they be subject to a gag order after their term expires?

posted by Gyan to law & government (10 comments total)

If you don't mind me adding to your question:

Rumor mill says "1-5 indictments". Does 5 indictments mean 5 people, or just multiple charges?
posted by Laen at 5:31 PM on October 25, 2005

5 means 5 people.
posted by alms at 5:32 PM on October 25, 2005

I am wondering about the sequestering as well. I would have to believe that these people are subject to tremendous pressures from all sides. And they only meet twice a week!
posted by trey at 5:32 PM on October 25, 2005

The NY District Court website has their Federal Grand Juror handbook (PDF). It answers some of the general questions.
posted by smackfu at 6:10 PM on October 25, 2005

From the Federal Grand Jury site:

• Who serves on a grand jury?
• How long do grand jurors serve?
• Does a grand jury sit all day, every day?

See also the ABA's grand jury FAQ. (Both links stolen from the Wikipedia entry.)
posted by mcwetboy at 6:50 PM on October 25, 2005

A funny about mcwetboy's first bullet point link: the pictures of "two groups" of people is actually a picture of one group of people cut in half. Look for the giveaway lime-green sleeve, notebook position, etc.
posted by michaelkuznet at 8:31 PM on October 25, 2005

On NBC Nightly News this evening they said that the "PlameGate" grand jury consists of 12 people -- and that there must be a quorum (which I take to mean a 2/3^rds. majority -- any lawyers out there who can substantiate my (mis)understanding?) in order to bring any indictments. I suspect that any others who are cited as on the jury are "alternates."
posted by ericb at 9:54 PM on October 25, 2005

ericb: The quorum on a Federal grand jury is 16. I would believe it is highly unlikely that Fitzgerald is in any danger of not meeting the quorum requirement. NBC is probably just plain wrong.
posted by dhartung at 12:47 AM on October 26, 2005

that there must be a quorum (which I take to mean a 2/3rds. majority -- any lawyers out there who can substantiate my (mis)understanding?) in order to bring any indictments.

Yes, but I suspect you're misunderstanding the term. A "quorum" is the minimum number of people who must be present to conduct business. They can't bring indictments without a quorum because they can't do anything¹--including voting not to bring indictments--without a quorum. If fewer than 16 people are present, the grand jury is powerless for that meeting, but if a quorum is present, that fact alone doesn't imply anything about how many members must vote in favor of an indictment in order to bring one.

¹Other than things such as merely discussing the case without taking any action, or recessing until the next meeting.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 10:38 AM on October 26, 2005

I'm still wondering how the utter secrecy of grand juries is so effectively enforced.
posted by alms at 6:11 AM on October 27, 2005