Well, my wife shocked me today. She has finished Federal Grand Jury Duty and she said she has

[diabeticman]

lost faith not only the "Two party system" and basically believes the country is ran by the 1% BUT until jury duty she believed the justice system may have had it's flaws BUT it was the one part of the constitution that for the most part acted as it should.

However after her 18 months she basically said she has lost faith in all parts of our system and her fellow citizens. She found some of her fellow jurors arrogant will others mindless automatons. "If the government has bought charges than they must be guilty." as she remembers overhearing one juror saying to another.



I don't know if I should let her calm down from the stressful situation or what but before I become judge mental of her I do find myself sharing some of her views at time but then I remind myself there are so many people in the country that there is more good and smart people in the country and one say they will make it better.

I don't know if there is anything really to say only that it is something preying on my mind and needed to vent it.

[ZombieHorde]

1. The US does not have a justice system.

We have an extremely biased punishment system.

[Ohio Joe]

7. I think that is the best description of it I've ever heard...

I wish I could rec that

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. We go through these moments

she is right, we are in one of them. Trust me, my level of cynicism is thorough the roof these days. BUT, we have been able to retake the system in the past. So I have not completely lost faith we will be able to in the future. Though I admit, I am near that point. But then I see people go to bat against captured regulatory agencies (the California Public Utilities Commission comes to mind) and win. Those are the moments that actually restore my faith in at least an ideal of the thing.

I guess that is the advantage of actually having to cover these really exciting public agency hearings. Once in a while I get to witness the little guy win.

So tell your wife that not all is lost... but it will take a lot of work to bring some balance back.

[VanillaRhapsody]

3. I was on a jury of a murder trial once.....I came out JUST as angry and disillusioned!

I know exactly what she is feeling.....I quite literally had to leave town because I was soooo angry at my fellow jurors and what I heard in that room....I had to put miles between us...it was THAT bad...exactly as she described. I nearly lost all my faith in humanity in that jury room.

[Nay]

4. Mr Nay said the very same thing about being on a jury. He said the jurors

were idiots -- they were about to make the exact wrong decision because they just didn't like the guy who brought the complaint. No logic, no deliberation, no common sense. He was appalled.

[DebJ]

5. Everything you need to know in life you learn in kindergarden....but some people didn't learn...n/t

[BainsBane]

6. Remind her that a grand jury indictment isn't a conviction

The old saying is that a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. The accused still have a trial and due process. A Grand Jury is not the same as a trial jury.

[gratuitous]

8. There is a difference between a trial jury and a grand jury

The grand jury only hears from the prosecution side to determine if there's enough evidence to bring charges. It's really a lopsided forum, and can be the seedbed for much prosecutorial mischief. This is indeed a tough bit of service, and please thank your wife for hanging in there. Grand jury is a crucial place that needs our best citizens.

[Logical]

11. It is a joke. The prosecutor can go any way he wants with it....

My brother was on federal duty and they indited every person except a police officer. What a shock!

[jberryhill]

9. A grand jury doesn't determine anyone's "guilt"

A grand jury determines whether there is enough evidence to indict, for which the answer is "not much".

Why a person on a grand jury would be discussing "guilt" at all is something of a mystery to me.

[Loudly]

10. Did witnesses testify against the ham sandwich?

[neverforget]

12. Grand juries only hear the prosecution side

So they get to make the defense look like they're guilty of anything.

[pnwmom]

13. I was shocked too. As we walked into the jury room, an elderly woman cheerily said,

"I'll just vote the same as everyone else. I'm easy."

Fortunately, we were hearing very simple, low-level cases and both of them were pretty cut and dry.

[DiverDave]

14. A friend was on the grand jury on Maui

he told me they indicted every person. every. person.
I didn't think to ask if it was because of the stellar
performance of the D.A.

Oh, and he sold, um, things that made people
less likely to have glaucoma.
He passed last year, dangit.

[bemildred]

15. It is a travesty, our Justice system, in all it's parts. nt