Quadra

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

Plaintiffs have brought this action to challenge the process of selecting members of the grand jury for San Francisco County. Defendants are the Superior Court of the City and County of San Francisco, the judges of that court, and an executive officer of the court who serves as jury commissioner. They invoke the jurisdiction of this Court under 28 U.S.C. §§ 1343 , 2201, and 2202, and the doctrine of pendent jurisdiction, and ask for injunctive and declaratory relief.

Plaintiffs’ essential claim is that the “personal-selection” system used by defendants in selecting grand jurors in San Francisco has resulted in the “systematic exclusion” of non-white ethnic minorities, women, residents of “lower-strata neighborhoods of the city,” low-income blue-collar workers, and “young adults,” persons between the ages of twenty-one and forty. Plaintiffs seek to maintain this lawsuit as a class action under Rule 23(b)(2), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, in terms of these five classes.

In their complaint, plaintiffs allege three causes of action:

1. They contend that the policies and practices of defendants deny them an equal opportunity to qualify for…