Deselected: My time on the jury pool in the Tree of Life shooting showed why juries are so homogeneous

Editor’s note: This week, a jury in a downtown Pittsburgh courtroom began hearing testimony in the trial of the man charged in the 2018 killing of 11 congregants of the Tree of Life-Or L’Simcha, Dor Hadash and New Light congregations.

Artist Andrea Shockling was in the jury pool, and for two months had to weigh how service could affect her life, whether she could be impartial in the case — and conversely how valuable it would be to have diversity on a jury in a case of such importance. (The jury includes no Black, Hispanic or Jewish jurors, but does include one Asian member.)

As the trial got underway, she took her experience, and her concerns with the jury selection process, to the drawing table.

Andrea Shockling is a Pittsburgh comics artist and storyteller. You can follow more of her work at andreashockling.com.

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