The purest demonstration of a republic form in action, no voice having greater weight than any other, with no right to combine like minded representation to over rule the voice of the individual; it is not a democracy with a majority rule. It is the one place in our nation where a single person, by their vote, can stop an action voted by eleven other individuals. It protects the minority in a world that is governed by the majority. Celebrate our jury system.
No, I'm in the middle of writing a new piece about the abrogation of the republic intended by the framers in favor of a democracy, particularly in a comtemporary culture that buys votes to create an artificial majority, and my thoughts were led to the one place where our vote has full weight
Citizens Rule Book ( I always carry one on me) http://www.apfn.org/pdf/citizen.pdf Good stuff! Keep it going!
Thanks for the reminder @RightHand. In a time when many feel that we are powerless, we do forget there is a place where our voice is heard.
...And yet, somehow...the prospect of being called to serve on jury duty is less favorable than catching a cold. Still, the job must be done. I wish everyone who must serve jury duty would read the Citizens Rule Book.
I like jury duty. The sad thing is, the times I've done it, the majority of the people on the jury didn't pay any attention or care one way or the other. They just went along with the majority so they could get done. The notion of a jury of your peers seems a bit of a joke to me. More like a jury of people who don't care what happens to you as long as they get home in time for Real Housewives of the OC.
The most meaningful jury experience I've ever had happened to occur on my birthday (I'm not telling which one but my hair was only tinged with silver). It was a grand jury and the case involved a man who had entered the bedroom of a 7 year old girl in the middle of the night, abducted her, raped her and left her in the snow. Miraculously, the child survived, physically, and I can only hope she was as fortunate emotionally. My own daughter was about the same age at the time which made the experience all the more compelling. We issued a bill to indict, the man was tried, convicted, and he's still in prison all these years later. It was a satisfying experience.
Never been on a Jury.... However I have thought about the experience a lot, in the past.... The thing about Juries is, That unless you are on a Grand Jury you don't get to ask Questions. You just have to listen to the Persecutor, and the Defense LawDog, tell you about what the case is about, and then it is your JOB to decide the Who, What, Where, When, of the case, from the testimony of a slew of folks who May, or may NOT, be lying thru the teeth, or have an Agenda, that shades their testimony. For my money. the persecutor better have more than a bunch of Suppositions, and Innuendo, to base his case on, or I am not voting to convict, PERIOD.... I just want FACTS, and Eye Witness Testimony from a single uncorroborated witness, isn't going to do it for ME, either.... Especially if the witness is a Confidential Informant of the Law Enforcement Agency that gathered the evidence for the trial. Way to easy to railroad an innocent Party, with that kind of BS Testimony. Now, If I see good Solid FACTS, that are undisputed, from multiple Witnesses, that have no agenda to push, and are just Witnesses, then I will vote to hang the Perp, from the nearest Tree, Straight away...... .......
A little cog in the wheel BT - in that grand jury case I just mentioned, there were no eye witnesses, no testimony, only police reports containing evidentiary material.The only facts in the case where that this child had been abducted and raped, the abductor entered through an unlocked window, there were foot prints in the snow that bore the same tread of shoes owned by the arrestee. Granted we were charged only with the decision if there was probably cause for a bill or no bill, significantly different than guilty or not guilty. The accused can be questioned but his/her attorney cannot accompany him into the grand jury room during questioning. He can request a meeting with his attorney outside the room for advice but other than that, he's on his own. that's one thing most people don't know Another interesting thing is that grand jury participants (at least in CT) are selected. I was good friends with the prosecutor and his staff and had just taken my LSATs so he though I might like to participate. By the way, I spent my next birthday in that same courthouse but I was in divorce court, I don't have particularly happy birthdays
I was on a jury once. The case was about a man trying to circumvent the system and charge people for using his name, sending them bills like a credit card would. The problem is, you agree to use a credit card, you can say or print the guy's name (in all caps) without his permission. I kind of liked his idea, but he was a sociopath and threatened people to try to get his paperwork pushed through. Not a good idea to threaten people. That's what we convicted him of. No regrets, either; I'd do it again.