A lot of people may have never had a problem with their local police. Thus, they may be mystified as to the level of anger seen in the marches. Thus, this story may be instructive.
Several years ago, I got a jury service summons for downtown Los Angeles. They called me to be one of 125 prospective jurors sitting in the courtroom. The court selected from this pool of 125 to find 12 jurors and 6 alternates. The case involved a policeman and a heavily gang-tattooed man that got into a fight with the officer.
The court called groups of 6, and the new prospects were interviewed by the attorneys for the state. The state attorneys asked them if they had ever had problems with the police, and if that would bias their ability to hear the case.
Nearly everyone had a story to tell, some gruesome, many cruel and horrific, about what police had done to them or their relative. After each set of interviews, the attorneys would release those they deemed to be too biased. The attorneys interviewed six after six after six. Nearly everyone had been victimized at some point. The court ran through 117 jurors to find their 18.
6
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
4 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.I think, they should put all the jurors names in a hat and pull them out randomly. If you are eliminating all jurors who have had "bad" experiences with cops, are they eliminating all jurors who have had "good" experiences with cops? ?? If the majority of jurors remaining have had "good" experiences... the decision is already being swayed. I have had both good and bad experiences with cops, have friends and family who are cops, and have friends and family who have been victims of dirty cops. just saying what is an "unbiased" juror????
chiara23k
Level 7
June 12, 2020
2
Exactly. Jury selection seems like a great way to perpetuate institutionalised biases like racism. But the problem is that by pure statistics a jury of 12 can easily sufferer huge insurmountable bias just by random selection and statistics. Unless we want to move to juries of 100 and abandon unanimous verdicts that will always be a problem. So maybe there is some reform for the jury selection process? I don't know what that would be - maybe do it without council actually seeing or hearing the juror - just ask questions?
To me when it comes to fairly deciding a case on police brutality someone who has been on the recieving end of it, especial if very common, is very well placed to make a decision on its merits.
The Defendant's attorney also refused a few jurors, but by far, most were dismissed by the policeman's attorneys.
50 years ago my alcoholic hubby came home at 1am screaming he wanted me to drive him to Columbus GA, 50 miles away. To not do so would get me a beating, so I loaded the baby into the car, figuring he would fall into a drunken stupor soon, I could turn around & claim we got there but he didn't wake up (I had to be at work at 6am). So, driving the road, fairly slowly, a cop car lights me up......I looked like the only occupant..... Both cops outside my window. .."well, hello, little lady, what are you doing out here all alone?" (Not, "may I see your license & registration" )....never in my life been so glad to point out sleeping hubby in backseat... they turned & left without another word. The nasty runs deep!
AnneWimsey
Level 9
June 12, 2020
2
I get that... in that sense, I am glad I never got married or I would have been less likely to walk away.
I've found that most cops are assholes to everyone, but certainly some get worse treatment than others. Police brutality (physical and psychological) is real, and a subset of those are also racist, to what extent I have no idea. The key problems are that these assholes were hired in the first place, and that other cops don't report bad behavior, abuse, brutality, and racism.
bingst
Level 8
June 12, 2020
2
Know what? I've seen that happen more times than I can remember when jury selection was being done! A lot of it might have been related to which courthouse you were serving.
LucyLoohoo
Level 9
June 12, 2020
0
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.