To the Editor:
I can’t say I am really surprised to see that jurors are doing research on the Internet. It seems to me that more and more people thumb their nose at respect or responsibility for the law or “doing the right thing.”
Every day, we all witness people driving and holding their cellphones in their hands—a direct violation of the law, but not for them: it was an important call.
How many times have you been to a movie or a Broadway play where people continue to talk freely among themselves (or on a cellphone) with a complete lack of respect for those around them? This is a “me first” society, and people do what they want to.
What does surprise me a little is that people are freely admitting that they are searching for this information on the Net. People who perform these explorations while performing their duties as jurors and get caught should be subject to a heavy fine and/or jail time.
Errol Arne
New Fairfield, Conn., March 18, 2009
To the Editor:
Our system of justice claims to seek the whole truth, and that needs the whole facts, not a censored set of information controlled by a judge and lawyers.
Jurors should be encouraged to participate in a trial and discover information for themselves by any means possible—Internet, books and so on. They should also be encouraged to question prosecutors, defendants and witnesses, with the judge and lawyers assisting (not controlling) the process.
We need to adjust our justice system to modern times and make it a more participatory, democratic process and discard the closely controlled, adversarial game favored by judges and lawyers. Open up the system and let the facts fall where they may.
Barrie F. Taylor
Miami, March 18, 2009
Note from KBJ: The second letter writer is wrong. Our system of justice does not "seek the whole truth." Nor should it. There are other values at stake besides truth—for example, fairness. See here.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 