Bahtatboy

No, not me, duh.


A juror told a court his homophobic and racist views meant he could not give a defendant a fair trial.

In a letter written to the judge after he was selected from a shortlist to serve in a case, the man claimed his extreme views 'against homosexuals and black/foreign people' made it impossible for him to be impartial.

'I strongly believe that it would be a serious injustice to the legal system to select me for jury service,' his letter said.

'I hold extreme prejudices against homosexuals and black/foreign people
and couldn’t possibly be impartial if either appeared in court.
'Therefore it would not be in the court’s interest to have me a juror.'

He admitted that in his eagerness to bring any case to a swift conclusion, he would simply vote with the majority and not give his true opinion.

He added: 'I would be more than happy to speak to a judge regarding my personal views on the legal system, which I do not hold in high regard.'

Obviously we can't rely on the veracity of the story considering the source, but it does raise an interesting question. If the juror in question is honestly giving his view (which he is entitled to hold), then he should not be on a jury. Should that also prohibit him from doing "anything responsible in society at all", as the judge is reported as saying?

My view is that the man was right to speak up, and--provided that his actions do not indicate that his views influence the decisions he takes in other spheres of his life--then the only consequence is that he should not be a civil servant in any capacity. It does set a difficult question of precedence, though.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...#ixzz26AkLZsQq

Boomhauer

Attempt to get out of jury duty?

Fossildog

"In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act"

George Orwell

The Dean

He wrote that after being selected to serve on the jury??

Contempt of court?

Millsyisland

Guilty m'lud.

Alexa

In an ideal society with proper ethics and understanding of democracy, this man would be able to put his views aside and do his duty.
Obviously that's beside the point.

Fossildog

Works both ways, how many liberal judges or jurors allow their prejudices to affect the outcome of trials?

Autonomy

Have "you" (meaning anyone reading this) done jury duty? It's really quite odd... (as are your "fellow" jurors)

Alexa

True. Let me rephrase: In an ideal society with proper ethics and understanding of democracy, EVERYBODY would be able to put their personal views aside and do their duty as it should be done.

Desert Dubliner

In that case the jury could be replaced with a software algorithm. Let us not forget the purpose of the jury is to introduce a range of personal views into the process.

Dumbo

This guy has been watching Curb Your Enthusiasm.

britexpat76

I have only known 2 people do Jury service. One annoyingly worked for me and got a murder case so was gone nearly 3 weeks.

Bahtatboy

AFAIA I only know one person whose done it--said he spent most of his 2 weeks waiting (at the court) for a case to come up, and spent only about a day or so actually in court.

britexpat76

I also guessed what his case was owing to time etc and he freaked out and went all secretive. As a shite Salesman as he was, he also made more money being there than work. They basically just paid whatever I wrote down as his daily salary up to £100 + Expenses.

jam25mack

I kind of did. I was selected and spent 3 days going to the high court in Glasgow and then being sent home as it kept being delayed. After 3 days the judge apologised for messing us about and said that we could leave as he'd bring in a new jury.

I was really miffed as the case was about this nasty gangster f**ker who'd take out his rivals family. Would have been interesting in a slightly voyeuristic way.