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[Tanner Lovelace <lovelace AT wayfarer.org>]

Alan MacHett said the following on 7/1/04 7:13 PM:

> I have little faith in our justice system.  It is predicated on the trust
> of 12 "peers".  In 18th century America, in practically any smallish
> community, that concept works as it was intended.  The people in a
> position to know one best, or at least have heard of you, are the one's
> best suited to judge one.  And somewhere along the way we gained the
> notion of an impartial jury (impossible, really, but the intent is
> honest); that's an idea I support as well.
>
> But today's justice system is littered with the verdicts of juries swayed
> by emotion or the barest hint of a shadow of a possibly-maybe doubt. 
> Should I ever be foolish enough to find myself standing trial, I most
> likely will waive my right to jury trial and trust my fate to a judge or
> judges.

Alan,

Am I right in assuming you've never served on a jury?  Because that's
what it looks like to me from the cheap seats.  If you've never sat
on a jury, then perhaps I can see how you might think this way, but
those of us who have sat on a jury don't buy it in the least.  Sure,
there are some people like that, but the majority of people who
sit on a jury, I believe, are people that are trying to do the right
thing, consider the evidence and come to the right conclusion.  It's
not perfect, but then nothing is.  It's still nowhere near how you
describe it.

Tanner