I've gotten summoned for jury duty. Not only do I not need to know much about the law, but I don't even need to know much English. Call me what you will, but if I am ever involved in a criminal court case, I want the 12 people deciding my fate to understand all the facts, and all the whos and whys and wherefores. I'd want my jury to speak English well. I'd want them, the people who will decide if I'll live in a jail cell, or pay a hefty fine, to understand all that is said.
I had jury duty last year. I had to get up early to drive to a train station so I could take a train into the city, where I'd have to get off and walk a mile before I got to the courthouse, where I got to sit around and wait for an hour. In those quiet times, you wonder, "Why, when I haven't done anything wrong, am I being forced to sit here and waste my day?"
My mind goes back to the day some thug stole my dad's bike. After the bike was recovered by the police, the thug who stole it was still loose, (probably stealing other people's bikes), and because of some law that I'm unfamiliar with, the police were holding my dad's bike. So my dad, who had done nothing wrong, was being punished by being unable to ride his bike because the bike was in jail while the thug who stole it was out running around.
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4 comentarios:
A great case can be made for implementing a privite juror system...or private anything.
neetm
I know I wouldn't want me on my jury if I were ever on trial!!
The only consolation I got from the experience was that I met that great technological genius of Filipino descent on the train. No offense to that esteemed individual and blogger extraordinaire, but that wasn't much of a consolation since I see him often at major holidays, sometimes at minor holidays, and almost always at made-up holidays.
JenM,
Well, the justice system is blessed to have you two years in a row as a juror! It's a good thing when Christians fulfill that duty, and unfortunate when unbelievers are predominant among jurors; I don't mean to sound haughty--the Bible says we have the mind of Christ, and as far as I'm concerned, that's a huge plus in weighing and determining complicated things.
It's a sad thing that the system places such a heavy burden on the juror, though. The consequences of sin hardly stay just with the sinner!
I've been summoned before, but then dismissed before I ever went in...always thought it would be a worthwhile experience, though.
I don't know what they're thinking to say that you don't have to know much English. How are you to decide the right response then? By drawing straws? Spinning the bottle? Throwing darts? That's fine when you're predicting the weather, but determining a human's fate...hardly. It's another instance where it's reassuring to remember that God is in control.
(Nevertheless, I'd hardly think that you lack for English skills. You be my juror any time--if I must need one, that is.)
I have the luxury of being able to pretend to have a very limited vocabulary. Or sometimes I don't have to pretend :=).
You gotta see The Twelve Angry Men, if you have not. Absolutely a sublime movie. One of my all time top five movies.
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