From: warwick@oak.math.ucla.edu (Warwick Daw)
Subject: Re: CO to jury duty?  150 lines
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 92 23:32:34 GMT

I was called for jury duty a few years ago. Before I address Eton's concerns,
let me present my point of view. I think that the court system in the U.S. is
one of the best in the world. In my oppinion the problem lies with the
sentences and a prison system that warehouses people rather than trying to
help them become productive members of society.

In order for the jury system to work, the jury must consist of a cross-section
of the community. This means everyone must participate. It seems that Eton's
concerns are from his heart, but Eton should realize that many people out
there do not want to serve on jury duty because they find it "too much
trouble." In some cases there are real reasons why a person can't serve on
jury duty, but it seems to me that for every person who really can't serve,
there are several people who are just looking for an excuse.

Now, for Eton's concerns:

First, serving on jury duty does not imply serving on a jury. When I was
called, I served on two juries. My wife was called a year later, and she
was never even put on a pannel for jury selection. Furthermore, in my
experience, everyone is given the opportunity to say that they do not think
they could serve as an unbiased juror on a particular case. My biggest concern
was that I would be called for a murder case, since I am opposed to the death
penalty. As it turned out, I was called for two cases, neither a murder case,
and selected for both. The first was a forgery case, in which we had a hung
jury (6-6). The second was a mental competancy hearing, which was slightly
unusual in that the prosecution was trying to prove the defendant incompetant.
We found the defendant incompetant. It was fairly clear to me that the woman
really needed help and that she would NOT get it on her own. The judge said
that they would try to treat her as an out-patient, and only hospitalize her
if she refused to keep her appointments. I felt fairly positive about the
case, because it seemed that we helped put her on the path to getting better.

What I would suggest that Eton do is serve on jury duty, but, if he really
feels that our justice system can do no good, refuse to serve on any juries.
My personal solution was to only serve on juries for cases that I could decide
within both my personal beliefs and the state's laws. I wasn't truely tested
in this, since in the cases I was called for, the two did not come into
conflict.

By serving on jury duty, but refusing to sit on any actual juries, Eton
would show the state that he is not just looking for an excuse out of
jury duty, but that he has heart-felt concerns about the workings of our
justice system.

One frequently hears about the abuses of the court system, but my experience
convinced me that the system works more than it fails. What we really need
is a system that helps reform those who have commited crimes rather than
making them victims. This requires reforms in the prison system and in
sentencing laws, but both these are controlled by the legislative branch of
our government. Given limited energy, I direct it at our state and federal
legislators who have, in recent years, been taking away creative sentencing
options from the courts, and forcing judges to give those found guilty
more and more "hard time."

Warwick Daw


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