Posted on 01/17/2008 7:57:02 AM PST by real saxophonist
The “straw man’, in this case, referring to the scarecrow/dummy.
"Voluntary" service strikes me as a jury pool that is potentially chock full of biased jurors. I'm not looking for jurors who are trying to make a political statement with their verdicts. "Voluntary" service does not guard against juror bias, while juror selection, in many ways, prevents biased juries.
Since defendants have a constitutional right to a jury drawn at random form a cross section of the entire judicial district, any conviction is likely to be reversed and the charges dismissed with prejudice.
Otherwise those that enrich themselves from the system are nothing but well paid extortionists!
Also refer to a “straw man” as a front for questionable activity.
The BATF(E) describes a “Straw Man Puchase” as one where a legal buyer purchases a weapon for someone who is otherwise prohibited from purchasing a weapon.
I suspect that this definition is closer to “Straw Men” than the argument of logical fallacy.
They can not show up for Jury Duty because they don't speak English. Sounds to me that there are hundreds of Illegal Aliens
registered to vote in Weld County.
JOIN the NRA. Carry their magazine with you at all times.
If picked up in a press gang, wave the magazine in front of the judge and tell him you are certain you an tell who is guilty just by looking at him.
Believe me it will work.
I live in Howard Co., Maryland. I believe the same thing goes on here too. I have lived here for ten years and have been summoned once but didn't have to show up. (They managed to get me out of system early.) It seems the only people allowed to seve on juries here are minorities and women. If you are a registered Republican, white and male it seems you don't serve on juries in Maryland. Frankly I'm glad. And yes, this is one of the reasons the system of justice in America is collapsing.
In Kansas, I was surprised to find that the system won’t allow a husband and wife (who happen to home school 3 children) to intentionally stagger their summonses. My wife and I have received summonses for the same time period, and the court clerk was very clear that my wife would not be allowed to postpone her summons due to child care issues caused by the concurrent summonses.
I was prepared to be a tad demonstrative about the issue (and also to take our 8 year old with us to the courthouse), but we were told we didn’t have to report.
“How long before jurors get to ask the defendent why he think he all that?”
When defendants start to use the “Y’all don’t know me!” defense.
I forget how long ago it was but until the 1980s I think in CT if you were summoned you served for an entire month! I hope not many jurisdictions still use this awful system. If you were on a trial, then at the conclusion you were back in the pool for another. You can imagine how disruptive this was. I think a lot of people managed to get out of it.
In my adult life I have had to report 3 times, the last was in 1996. It looked like a pretty good cross section of society showed up during those times I served. I never got on a jury though. For whatever reason after being summoned 3 times in 7 years, I did not get another notice until last year. Then when I called the night before the recorded announcement said no one should report. I was relieved. Instead of sending me to the court house nearest to my home, I got assigned to another district 20 miles away. This has happened to a lot of people I know so that’s why so many people get miffed about having to serve.
That argument might make sense if they give you warning.
You're such a public minded citizen. The very idea of a jury is to have people with no dog in the fight to protect the rights of fellow citizens from judges and lawyers.
Those guys aren't jurors, though -- that's what puzzled me. Bail bondsmen who "stand in the shoes" of the defendant as far as posting bail or bond are much more like the traditional understanding of "straw man" (as a "front man", not a "logical fallacy") than jurors.
This fascination with foliage must be a British thing -- like the March hare (or Ophelia) with straws in their hair, or hanging a green bush outside a pub . . ..
As I understand it, the “Straw Men” tradition continued into the American west, where they were often used as hired jurors.
Some guy recently tried the 'over the top outrageous' shtick here in an attempt to get out of jury duty.
The judge found him in contempt of court for perjuring himself in an attempt to escape his jury duty and jugged him for a week.
Just relax, tell the truth, and take it easy. Chances are you won't be impaneled for voir dire, and if you just give honest answers SOMEbody is probably going to want to strike you.
Of course, I thought that until I got impaneled AND selected . . . but it took them 24 years to get me! Those are pretty decent odds.
Unless you're my husband. They get him all the time. He is a real easygoing guy and a stickler for civic duty (which may be why they pick him. Certainly it's why he gets elected foreman. That or his trustworthy demeanor. < g > (I've trusted him for 31 years+) )
I've been doing a lot of Western History research because we're getting into Cowboy Action Shooting . . . and again I haven't run across that. But now I'll be looking out for any reference, so I'll see what I find.
Best jury story is in Mark Twain's Roughing It, where a guy took poison, hanged himself, shot himself four times and jumped out a window - - - and the coroner's jury brought in a verdict of "Death by the Visitation of God." If you say so . . ..
You still serve for an entire term (anywhere from four weeks to six months) if you get impaneled on a GRAND jury. But you don’t work every day, and you don’t work all day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.