Civic Duty
Things to tell the Prosecuting and Defending Lawyer when sitting in a jury pool. Oh- this is only if you don't want to be selected. Not that I didn't want to be selected, but here are some of the things I shared with the court today. Verbatim of course :) Damn I should have been a good passive little girl! Then stuck it to the man!"I will have a hard time considering circumstancial evidence."
"Some one may have walked into the room and stabbed someone with a banana, but I may have seen a knife"
"Considering that someone's civil liberties may be at stake, I would find it hard to find a party guilty, with out knowing if the punishment fits the crime. Why can I not know the punishment?"
"I can not always tell whether a person is under the influence of a substance, or if they are drunk. Other people have medical conditions in which they appear Drunk."
"I think that traffic laws impede a person's ability move freely about the world."
"Just because someone takes an oath does not mean that they respect it and are not motivated to purger themselves."
"If the defendant chooses to not testify, I will find it hard to come to a conclusion, not knowing both sides of the story. Not saying I won't try, just saying that I would find it difficult"
The more you talk also seems to help. Question, disagree, visibly doubt what is said about proceedure, if you have doubt.
Today served for me as a learning experience and also taught me to distrust our system even more. I and at least 5 others that questioned the court or disagreed with how facts were determined, were kept off of the jury. On one hand I am glad that I don't have to sit on this case tomorrow. On the other hand it seems that the court didn't want any educated free thinkers or "radicals" deciding the fate of the defendant. Makes me a little sad actually.
posted by iSirkus @ 4:42 PM
Comments: 2
