Boulder Daily Camera
Letters to the Editor from Carole Bayer
(4/20/97)
Feedback requested: newsr@bouldernews.infi.net
Will someone please explain why the awful
process of "jury selection" used in criminal cases is legal or
ethical? On what foundation does the practice rest and why hasn't it been
challenged? If I am called for jury duty, why do I lose all rights to privacy
that are taken for granted as a civil liberty
in other areas of life? What if I refuse to answer questions I believe
to be stupid, incriminating or invasive? And what if after all the hundreds
of questions asked one is left out that later I am told I "should
have known the information would be relevant to the case?"
In the Oklahoma City bombing trial, questions
about the most personal details of a potential juror's life are allowed.
Names are not published, but if I am the only female physics teacher in
a college, there is little doubt that my students, my neighbors and the
world will learn my views on God, the IRS and Waco.If potential jurors
cannot be disqualified because of race, why are those who believe they
are trying to be good citizens and willing to do their best to bring in
a just verdict automatically disqualified because of their opinions regarding
the use of the death penalty?
Why do I have to answer questions about my family, my friends, my deceased child, my political and religious beliefs, what I read and watch on TV or what bumper stickers are on my car?
We know both sides in every case would like
to have a certain kind of person on the jury they feel might be more favorable
to their case (or as a recent New York Times article says "one with
an empty mind"). But we also know that like all human beings we will
bring biases and experiences different from other people. I believe I have
a right to a fair trial before a jury of my peers; why would I believe
that right means the jurors all have to be clones of me? Why is it not
enough for me to swear that I believe I am able to set aside my own opinions
long enough to render a fair and just verdict based on the evidence? How
is justice better served or an accused person's rights
better protected by this terrible demeaning of potential jurors?
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