The role of juries in our justice system
It is sometimes hard to believe the amount of power that our justice system places in the hands of juries. This is especially so in light of the often highly technical issues that juries are called on to decide. That having been said it is downright scary to see just who gets put on these things...
It makes you wish that attorneys could strike prospective jurors on the grounds that they have a demonstrated record of consistently making wrong decisions on the basis of bad evidence....
It makes you wish that attorneys could strike prospective jurors on the grounds that they have a demonstrated record of consistently making wrong decisions on the basis of bad evidence....
1 Comments:
An interesting post. Certainly this is a prime example of the key differences of political ideology.
I am one who believes in less government interference. Why? Because I have a generally abiding belief in people - in democracy. I trust the people. While people don't always get it right, they generally do.
Similarly, having worked in the federal court system, I have an abiding faith in juries. Sure, juries get it wrong sometimes. But, what better place to rest the trust than in the people? Who would you rather be judged by - a random sample pool of your fellow citizens or just the wealthy aristocracy?
Time and time again, I come down on the side of the people.
Even Gore and Edwards claim to be for the people. They were for the "people" not "the powerful," remember? How odd that this blog, in a veiled attempt at making fun of President Bush would actually jab our jury system. Jab Gore. Jab Edwards. And, jab, "We the People."
In my view, both parties could improve a lot more if they would trust the people a lot more. Republicans only trust the people on economic ideas. Dems only trust the people on social ideas. I trust the people on both fronts.
If government made all the decisions for us, would we have the McRib? Would we have had the McBrat? Authoritative censorship has shown us that we certainly would not have had the McColin. All of these "Mcs" were great ideas, even though the two food items were disgusting in taste and the McColin was simply a joke.
So, in sum, juries are a good thing, not a bad thing.
The people are good, not bad.
The McRib and Brat were good in theory, just bad in reality.
And, the McColin - I can't say anything about that. Other than to say that it combines two great things - one of them being a good friend.
And that brings me to my final point. In closing, I'd like to note that "We the People" in order to form a more perfect blog, would like to take a moment this holiday season to express our gratefulness to the Manning brothers. Good friends, good guys, and good bloggers. CHEERS!!!
Yanni
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