Dear Reader, 

Hit lists, doxing, and home visits are among the suggestions popping up online against the members of the grand jury that indicted Donald Trump in Georgia. 

Last week’s indictment in Fulton County alleging a criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election contained 19 defendants, 98 pages, and 161 overt acts. The document also included something else – the names of the individual grand jurors who voted to charge the former president and his associates. 

The practice of publicly disclosing the names of grand jurors appears to be unique to Georgia and is an effort to provide transparency into the charging process. Access to the names allows defense attorneys to independently determine whether the grand jurors meet the minimal qualifications to serve. But in an era when online harassment and political violence have become all too common, failing to protect the identity of grand jurors strikes me as bad government.