What
is your verdict?
“Responsibility
is the price of freedom.” Elbert Hubbard
I
was finally put on a jury, which is what I hoped for. It was a case
all too typical in our day and age; a man and woman who once loved
each other, now fighting to the end about anything they could come up
with to fight over. It was a case of divorced persons, new boyfriend,
who was most likely the cause of the divorce, and nasty words and
threats exchanged through our fabulous new technology. He said, she
said; she pushed, he shoved and then the boyfriend inserted himself
into the mix, and beat up a man half his size, and even involved his
own son in the fight. Not a new or unique story. Unfortunately, a
terribly familiar story. We heard testimony for two days, all of it
conflicting, and there were plenty of stupid decisions all around.
There
were uncertainties, questions. We, the jury, had different
preconceived notions about the meaning of “intent.” We went back
to the judge for definitions and comparisons; we listened to 911
tapes several times; we debated among ourselves. It is not easy to
have responsibility for someone's fate when there are no perfect
people involved; difficult to decide based simply on the law and the
evidence, and not on one's own impressions and sympathies.
In
the end, we agreed to a unanimous verdict: guilty as charged. A
felony, not a misdemeanor. And I came away with a new appreciation
for our justice system. Yes, it matters who represents whom. The
lawyer for the defense made numerous errors, received many reprimands
from the judge, and ended up looking not a whole lot smarter than his
client. It made a difference in how we viewed both of them. Much was
presented that could not be considered as evidence, and weeding out
the theater from the facts is harder than it seems. My impression
that our technology is a dangerous freedom was reinforced. And
finally, one must battle the inner question, “Would I have done the
same thing under those circumstances?” Even if the answer is 'yes',
or 'possibly,' it cannot be the basis for your decision.
Our
justice system if fraught with problems. But I believe it is the best
system in the world for getting to the truth of a matter. The jury
was a true cross section of the community, and everyone had an equal
say and an equal vote. I know the joke is that when you come into
court you put your trust in twelve people who were not smart enough
to get out of jury duty. I disagree. I believe that it is we who make
up our system, and if we opt out of the parts we don't like, we
weaken that system and share responsibility for its failure. As a
citizen, I stand with Christopher Hitchens in saying, “I vote and I
do jury duty.” If we love our freedom as much as we say, we should
be willing to do our part in preserving it.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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