Prosecutor: "Is it true Mr. Hollerith that you self-identify as a hacker and that you frequent a community of hackers known as Hacker News?" You: "Yes, but..."

Prosecutor: "Is it true Mr. Hollerith that you self-identify as a hacker and that you frequent a community of hackers known as Hacker News?" You: "Yes, but..." Prosecutor: "A simple yes or no will suffice." You: "There are questions that can't be answered with a simple yes or no. For example, you could ask me if I have stopped beating my wife." Prosecutor: "Have you, Mr. Hollerith?" In short, a jury of "peers" is not going to be comprised of peers. On average they are people who have a poor grasp of logic, statistics, and the personality of hackers. They'll judge you based on the way you look, talk, etc... And since you are all Mr. Smarty Pants, members of the average jury will not trust you, like you, or relate with you. As such, hacker types have a major disadvantage in court, even before tossing around labels that are considered as "shady" by the general public.