4 ms·
I wasn’t trying to get out jury duty, but knowing my juror rights had me excused. When the lawyers went around the room asking questions, one of the questions
by agotterer 4y ago
I wasn’t trying to get out jury duty, but knowing my juror rights had me excused.
When the lawyers went around the room asking questions, one of the questions was something along the lines of “will you uphold the law as the judge describes it”. 40 odd people leading up to me all said yes, and then I said “maybe”.
I was asked to step outside to discuss my answer. I pretty much said “I know my rights as a juror and if a law is unjust it’s my duty to say so”. They said I could go home after that.
- LatteLazy 4y agoSurely this defeats the whole point of jury nullification? Yo should have said yes and then voted your conscience no?
- mcv 4y agoIs it perjury to lie in this case?
- LatteLazy 4y agoI guess we could argue back and forth about "will you uphold the law as the judge describes it". Are jurors usually sworn in in courts? But you're in a very difficult position morally when asked that question (assuming it's for the purpose of removing anyone who will engage in jury nullification). If you actually believe in jury nullification then morally you have to lie right? Otherwise you're allowing someone to override what you consider to be an important civil right. It's no different to someone standing outside a polling booth and refusing entry unless you promised to vote for his candidate: if you actually believe in democracy you need to lie... To be clear, I am not absolutely convinced by the whole Jury Nullification thing. Obviously it's practically possible but I am not convinced it is a good thing, let alone a civil right or a check on power etc. I am a limey brit and over here we don't "pick" or "disqualify" jurors for better or worse. So aside from knowing people involved in the case, you don't get asked questions like this...
- curiousgal 4y agoI don't understand what the big deal about perjury is. You have politicians lying under oath all the time and having 0 punishments despite the huge ramifications of those lies. Why should the "small time" liars be punished.
- Der_Einzige 4y ago"When bill Clinton lied, no one died" I don't care if he was guilty of Perjury - his "crime" only hurt Hillary...
- ww-picard-do 4y agoSo, it is ok for people to lie in court because politicians do it?
- curiousgal 4y agoYes. Politicians are representatives of the people afterall.
- mcv 4y agoNo, but if you only prosecute poor people for it and not politicians, you create an unjust, class-based system where the law is different for different people. Politicians need to be held accountable perhaps more so than average people.