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Saturday, July 28, 2007
Would YOU Pass the Juror Test?
Some of the most interesting parts of yesterday's trial had to do with the selection of the jury. Quite a few of the questions that were asked of the potential jurors had to do with finding out their political persuasions. Now, this may sound obvious to you, since this was a trial about a woman who blocked a representatives office in opposition to the war, but in the 2006 No Blood For Oil 12 trial, politics were really kept out of the equation. In that trial, the D.A. and the judge were emphatic that the Iraq war would barely be mentioned. In yesterday's trial, the war was up close and personal, not only during the questioning of the jurors, but Carolyn was allowed to speak for 15 or 20 minutes about U.S. deaths, Iraqi deaths, and the destruction to the country that we now occupy.
Some of the city attorney's questions to the 12 potential jurors (six jurors would be chosen out of this group):
Does your car have any bumper stickers on it? NOT ONE DID
Have you contacted any of your legislators about the war? ONE WOMAN HAS (and she didn't make the cut.)
Do you read websites about the war or about Bush? Only the woman above does. One woman said that she doesn't think about the war OR read the news about it!
Did you vote in the last presidential election? Thank God that all had. Er wait, maybe I wish they hadn't...
Are you familiar with Cindy Sheehan? If so, what do you think of her? This question was asked of only a couple of people. One man emphatically said that he doesn't like her beliefs or how she expresses them. GONE!
Only 3 out of the 12 KNEW THAT THEIR REPRESENTATIVE HAS AN OFFICE IN THEIR TOWN!
I was blown away by the fact that a few of these people don't really even think about the war. Mostly, it appeared that the people in that juror's box fell into the category of good Americans who vote and go about their lives while we devastate Iraq, ruin our standing in the world and bankrupt our country. The few on either end of the spectrum were dismissed by the attorneys. So the final jury was mostly made up of people who didn't express strong feelings either way.
Some of the city attorney's questions to the 12 potential jurors (six jurors would be chosen out of this group):
Does your car have any bumper stickers on it? NOT ONE DID
Have you contacted any of your legislators about the war? ONE WOMAN HAS (and she didn't make the cut.)
Do you read websites about the war or about Bush? Only the woman above does. One woman said that she doesn't think about the war OR read the news about it!
Did you vote in the last presidential election? Thank God that all had. Er wait, maybe I wish they hadn't...
Are you familiar with Cindy Sheehan? If so, what do you think of her? This question was asked of only a couple of people. One man emphatically said that he doesn't like her beliefs or how she expresses them. GONE!
Only 3 out of the 12 KNEW THAT THEIR REPRESENTATIVE HAS AN OFFICE IN THEIR TOWN!
I was blown away by the fact that a few of these people don't really even think about the war. Mostly, it appeared that the people in that juror's box fell into the category of good Americans who vote and go about their lives while we devastate Iraq, ruin our standing in the world and bankrupt our country. The few on either end of the spectrum were dismissed by the attorneys. So the final jury was mostly made up of people who didn't express strong feelings either way.
I would not have been selected for that jury.
Still, with the way the laws are written and the evidence that the jurors had, I would've handed down the same decision they did.
But the sentence was harsh and a waste of taxpayer money.
Some of Carolyn's words from the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice website:
In September Congress will vote on whether to fund the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan for another $145 billion. Please call your Congress people (202-224-3121 ) every week with your grievances about the war and tell them - vote no on the funding - and ask everyone you know to do the same. Ask your Congress people to prevent Bush from attacking Iran. Write letters to the editor. Visit your Congressperson's office. ...We owe our efforts to the Iraqi people because our government has made their lives a living hell.
But the sentence was harsh and a waste of taxpayer money.
Some of Carolyn's words from the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice website:
In September Congress will vote on whether to fund the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan for another $145 billion. Please call your Congress people (202-224-3121 ) every week with your grievances about the war and tell them - vote no on the funding - and ask everyone you know to do the same. Ask your Congress people to prevent Bush from attacking Iran. Write letters to the editor. Visit your Congressperson's office. ...We owe our efforts to the Iraqi people because our government has made their lives a living hell.
posted by Carol at 3:15 PM
3 Comments:
What you've shared with us from the trial leads me to ask the obvious question: How can they claim that Carolyn has been convicted by a "jury of her peers" when the ones who were selected to serve appear to be unthinking, unknowledgeable "citizens"?!
Hmmmm.... interesting that you should ask! First, I don't know if I would go so far as to call them unthinking and unknowledgeable. They just might not think too much about the war or have a lot of interest in dealing with our government.
Dictionary.com gives a definition of peer as "a person of the same legal status: a jury of one's peers"
I never knew that all "a jury of one's peers" means is that you have a jury of people who have the same legal status as the defendant.
(cross out my meaningless "is" in the third paragraph of my comment above please.)
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