Any other week besides this week would have been fine. In fact, I would like to serve, but this week I have a conference that my work paid for that starts on Friday and I really don't want to miss it. The judge said that the trial would go until next Friday, which covers right over my conference.
The case was a civil case for damages of a white officer who shot and killed a black man. I was wholly disappointed because every juror seated was black. There were plenty of white and Hispanic people in the crowd, but not one ended up on the jury. And for this one, I don't know how impartial I could have been. I have this innate sense of being on the officer's side. I have to believe that the officer was a good man, otherwise our whole system is useless in my eyes. Officers are supposed to be better than the rest of us.
Usually, they're like the rest of us, no better or worse. But juries tend to assume they're better than the rest of us, leading to a culture where police officers tend to feel free to lie on the stand, which is a serious problem. Hopefully most aren't tempted to do it, but it definitely happens a lot.
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naturallypixie) wrote2009-02-18 05:15 pm
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The case was a civil case for damages of a white officer who shot and killed a black man. I was wholly disappointed because every juror seated was black. There were plenty of white and Hispanic people in the crowd, but not one ended up on the jury. And for this one, I don't know how impartial I could have been. I have this innate sense of being on the officer's side. I have to believe that the officer was a good man, otherwise our whole system is useless in my eyes. Officers are supposed to be better than the rest of us.
no subject