Judges: Seattle courthouse safety issues keep jurors away

SEATTLE (AP) — Judges say crime and public safety issues around the King County Courthouse in downtown Seattle are causing potential jurors to decline to serve, making it more difficult to fill juries. The Seattle Times reports public safety issues around the downtown courthouse, the seat of county government, have festered for years but have been made worse during the pandemic as downtown office workers largely stayed home and homeless encampments in the area proliferated. Seattle recently cleared a large homeless encampment at nearby City Hall Park after 33 judges wrote to the city’s parks superintendent asking for it to be shut down.