On 5/16/06, Doug Henwood <<a href="mailto:dhenwood@panix.com">dhenwood@panix.com</a>> wrote:<div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> No, civil. And I don't want to get bumped - it's one of the few things I feel a civic duty about. The jury system is great - beats putting one's fate in the hands of some elitist judge! And it's inspiring to watch ordinary people take the task so seriously - something in daily life that makes you believe that democracy could work out after all. </blockquote></div> One of the funniest things the late Jacob Landynski said in an otherwise unremarkable con law survey course at the New School was that he felt that juries vs. judge didn't really matter anyway, that statistically speaking juries are so often in favor of the prosecution that the occasional Twelve Angry Men standoff doesn't really matter. That said, I can say that when I stood for jury selection (and didn't get picked on grounds of opposing the death penalty) that it was an invigorating experience and one that I had hoped would allow me an audience with the court to explain my stance. Sadly, I didn't get the chance and was summarily dismissed. J T. -- J T. Ramsay 1626 S. 2nd St. #2 Philadelphia, PA 19148 cell: 267 252 0852 <a href="http://blackmailismylife.com/blog">blackmailismylife.com/blog</a> [NEW!]