Woman given indefinite jury duty

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/04/06/2011-04-06_verdict_yer_a_joke_judge_forces_woman_to_eternal_jury_duty_after_racist_remarks_.html

Judge gives 'Juror No. 799' indefinite jury duty after she makes racist remarks on questionnaire

An incensed federal judge sentenced a racist Brooklyn woman to indefinite jury duty on Tuesday after she trashed the NYPD and minorities.

"This is an outrage, and so are you!" Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis told the woman, holding up her bile-filled juror questionnaire.

Juror No. 799, an Asian woman in her 20s who said she works in the garment industry, was up for jury duty in the death penalty trial of Bonanno crime boss Vincent (Vinny Gorgeous) Basciano.

It didn't take long for her to start looking worse than the defendant.

Asked to name three people she least admired, she wrote on her questionnaire: "African-Americans, Hispanics and Haitians."

When the judge asked why she answered the question that way, she replied, "You always hear about them in the news doing something."

She also declared that cops are all lazy, claiming that they sound their sirens to bypass traffic jams.

Garaufis flipped forward several pages in her questionnaire.

He landed on the page where she had said she had a relative who was a member of the Chinese Ghost Shadows gang in the 1980s, convicted of murder and still in prison.

"Why didn't you put 'Asians' down also?" the judge asked sarcastically, referring to her list of least-liked people.

"Maybe I should have," she said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Taryn Merkl requested that the woman be disqualified from the Vinny Gorgeous case because of her "inappropriate" comments. The motion was granted.

It is not unheard of for people to try to get out of jury service by making ridiculous statements concerning their views.

It was unclear Tuesday whether that was this woman's motive.

And if it was, it didn't work.

Indeed, the woman was going to be seeing a lot of Brooklyn Federal Court.

"She's coming back , Thursday and Friday - and until the future, when I am ready to dismiss her," Garaufis said.



I enjoyed this. Good idea by the judge for someone probably trying to avoid jury duty.

[meegbear]

1. K&R

[NICO9000]

2. Interesting

They'd usually bounce you out of the courtroom immediately for saying this type of stuff. I'll bet she was just trying to get out of jury duty in the most outrageous way possible.

I have a great story on how my best friend got dismissed from jury duty. He was called here in Van Nuys (San Fernando Valley) a couple of months after the L.A. riots. When he was going through the orientation, he dared to ask the following question: "I'm looking around this room and I don't see hardly any blacks or Hispanics. How is anyone supposed to get a fair trial this way?" He was then summoned to the person leading the orientation and was told his service would no longer be needed. My pal wasn't even trying to get out of it. He's one of those painfully honest people with a great sense of fairness who's not afraid to ask a difficult question.

[damntexdem]

3. On the other hand, should she be on ANY jury?

[frazzled]

4. They don't actually have to put her on a jury ... just make her show up every day

sit waiting for a panel to be called, sit through voir dire, come back again ...

[Poll_Blind]

5. When the most odius of us are treated unfairly is when we should be the most vigilant.

This woman has every right to believe those ignorant things and singling her out for what definitely appears (at least) to be punishment should cause us all to consider that some of our most cherished beliefs were once likely to receive this kind of punishment- or worse, in a similar situation.

Tolerance of homosexuality, people of different religions, mixed-race marriages- these are all things which even in the recent (relatively) past could have caused a similar reaction from a judge in this given circumstance.

And so she should be afforded the Freedom to believe whatever she wants, insofar as the questions ask what those beliefs are.

When we permit attacks on odious speech or beliefs, it is rarely considered that we may set a dangerous precedent which could one day be used against us given our truths.

PB

[ZombieHorde]

6. This is thought crime. She is being punished for her opinions.

I hope the judge looses his position. This is really disgusting.

[Mnemosyne]

8. +1000 K&R n/t

[A Simple Game]

9. So true, but

even worse, she could be being punished for telling the truth.

Would the judge prefer that she lie?

[SnakeEyes]

13. going to have to agree.

[Raine]

7. Disgraceful on the part of the judge

they want you to give honest opinions and then the person gets punished for it, that is ... WRONG!

[Wabbajack_]

10. Jury duty violates the 13th amendment

any way you slice it.

[SwampG8r]

11. this judge should be removed

he is using jury duty to force an american citizen to change her beliefs by coersion
he is scum and should be disbarred for abuse of power
he is using the bench to ruin her life because he doesnt like her thinking
fucking nazi thought cop shouldnt be allowed into a courtroom ever again
were he a (r),or she more politically appealing, DU would want his head

[Cleita]

12. An easier and more plausible way to get out of jury

duty would have been for her to state that she's against the death penalty. What she did was stupid and oh, so transparent.