Seems like arguing out disputes before a jury composed of ordinary citizens is a fundamentally great idea... Doug
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I agree, but I've never been allowed on a jury to find out. The last time I was called up, we had to fill out a questionaire. I could tell by reading the questions both sides were playing games with jury selection. It was a moderately high profile case in which a Mexican American woman was shot to death in her own living room by the police. Sounded pretty open and shut to me. She was middle aged, didn't speak English well. The questionair wanted to know if you spoke Spanish, if you had relatives who were Mexican American, and in some series of question I can't remember now, they were trying to get your opinion of the Mexican American community and the police. Well, that's pretty obvious stuff around here.
I answered the questions as truthfully as I could. When the judge read my name, both sides leaped out of their seats to get to her first for a confab which the three carried on for several moments. When the attorneys returned to their seats, the judge announced I was excused. The victim's family and the cop's family in the audience watched me as I left. Something I wrote must have hit home hard...
CG