Allegheny County Common Pleas President Judge Joseph M. James has more experience accepting pleas than making them.

	John Beale, Post-Gazette Perry Traditional Academy student Brandy McArthur, of Homewood, talks with Allegheny County President Judge Joseph M. James about a voter registration form she was filling out after the judge's program on citizenship yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

But he did the latter yesterday, asking about 50 students at Perry Traditional Academy to register to vote.

Judge James told the students, all 17 or 18 years old, that voting is a "wonderful right" that will help them guide the destiny of the city and the school district. He said adding the students to the voting rolls also will help meet the county's urgent need for young and minority jurors.

For the third year in a row, Judge James and a handful of colleagues have made the rounds of city high schools to promote voter registration and jury duty, answer questions and pass out registration cards. Perry, in Perry Hilltop, was the last school to be visited this year.

"The courthouse is the old building that looks like a castle in the middle of Downtown Pittsburgh," he said, inviting the students to stop in and catch the "flash and dash" of a criminal trial.

Judge James, a former prosecutor and criminal court judge who now presides over election, zoning and land-use cases, said the effort signed up 26 voters yesterday and 1,500 over three years.

During the three years, he said, black representation on jury pools has increased from about 5 percent to 8.1 percent. Not all of the increase is attributable to the school visits, however.

Judge James, who functions as chairman of the county Jury Commission, said officials have increased the number of jury summonses mailed to predominately minority neighborhoods and tried to make jury service more convenient for young, financially strapped residents. Those efforts include a day-care service, $5 parking and discounts at restaurants near the courthouse.

Judge James, whose three sons attended Pittsburgh Public Schools, didn't reach everyone in the audience yesterday.

Some students declined to fill out the voter registration forms. One complained about a lack of fairness in the judicial system and walked out of the room shortly thereafter.

But his message resonated with other students, including Robert Lay, of Sheraden, who said he understood the importance of a diverse jury pool. A juror from Moon, he said, wouldn't necessarily relate to his neighborhood.

He said he walked into the room yesterday believing an individual's vote didn't count but reconsidered after hearing Judge James, who collected the completed registration forms and pledged to deliver them to the county elections office.

Judge James reminded the students that President Bush won two terms by narrow margins and told them that a flip of a coin decided one school board race that had ended in a tie.

He said voting can give them a say on matters with the biggest impact on their lives. School boards, he noted, decide which textbooks to buy and teachers to hire.

"I don't want to vote for somebody bad," student Brandy McArthur said. Judge James told her she had many ways to learn about the candidates before voting.