A growing list of reasons why people are becoming increasingly frustrated with and have “given up” on our system of criminal justice (let alone the US Government itself), and may be possibly more inclined to avoid reporting for jury duty and/or serving on a particular case:
I will begin by restating what I wrote at the beginning of this book on the home page:
If you are called for jury duty, and are reasonably able to serve (and if the court staff is understanding and helpful in rescheduling your service date as needed), it is important that you support your fellow American citizens by serving to the best of your ability and with complete honesty, even if serving is inconvenient and/or unpleasant.
Below is a list of issues that are commonly referenced during discussions about jury duty and America's judicial system. Nothing in this list should be considered an excuse to avoid serving on jury duty. These are simply points for thought and/or discussion with those concerned. The list is in no particular order, and will be expanded as need be.
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If you are called for jury duty, and are reasonably able to serve (and if the court staff is understanding and helpful in rescheduling your service date as needed), it is important that you support your fellow American citizens by serving to the best of your ability and with complete honesty, even if serving is inconvenient and/or unpleasant.
Below is a list of issues that are commonly referenced during discussions about jury duty and America's judicial system. Nothing in this list should be considered an excuse to avoid serving on jury duty. These are simply points for thought and/or discussion with those concerned. The list is in no particular order, and will be expanded as need be.
- Privately-owned prisons operate as for-profit businesses. This concept, while perhaps making sense from a purely budgetary and efficiency standpoint, will ultimately be remembered as one of the main reasons why Americans have completely lost faith in our system of justice.
- Prisons are referred to as “correctional” centers, and are managed by “Departments of Correction” (or by private corporations with the word “corrections” in their name) in an attempt to have The People believe that rapists are in need of "behavior correction,” as are drug addicts who just need various types of help.
- Some people are concerned that law-enforcement agents may be under various pressures to falsely accuse innocent people of wrongdoing, or that they do so simply for its own sake. Others believe that such behavior is limited to an extremely small percentage of law-enforcement agents, no different than any other profession having a very small percentage of “bad” people.
- The death penalty may result in innocent (or not definitively guilty) people being put to death, obviously with no means of undoing such if evidence of innocence (or ambiguity) surfaces at some point in the future.
- The death penalty is widely accepted as not serving as a deterrent against crime, yet is still referred to as a “penalty.”
- Putting an inmate to death involves “endless” appeals which are said to be more costly than locking up the inmate in a maximum-security facility for life.
- America's use of the death penalty is disapproved of by most other advanced nations.
- The death penalty may fall under the category of cruel and unusual punishment depending on the execution method used.
- Huge monetary settlements are decided upon by jurors who were not tested to determine whether they are capable of doing basic arithmetic computations, and whether they fully understand the concept of numerical place value (e.g., What is the difference between awarding $17,050,000 and $17,500,000 in punitive damages besides the fact that one is more than the other?)
- Repeat-offenders repeatedly offend. People are tired of hearing about "career criminals" with a "rap sheet a mile long" being arrested for yet another crime.
- The US Government "negotiates" with criminals in an effort to save taxpayer money and courtroom time. Criminals know that they wield this power over a justice system that doesn't really know what to do with them.
- America leads the world in mass shootings.
- Some inmates are held in solitary confinement for most or all of their time in prison, and are thrown directly back onto the streets at the end of their sentence (in accordance with the law).
- A large percentage of inmates are mentally ill, and would be better served in a secure mental health facility as opposed to a facility whose objectives are "punishment" and “correction.”
- There are no major consequences for those who commit perjury, assuming they are ever even put on trial for such.
- If a poor person is required to pay a relatively small fine, but cannot afford to do so, s/he can easily begin a "downward spiral" of being assessed additional penalties which of course s/he cannot afford to pay.
- Some people feel that some towns impose fines on poor people as a means of income for the town.
- Our society has become increasingly litigious (e.g., you can run around in a store like a mindless jerk, and then sue the owner for millions of dollars (and possibly win) when you trip over your own feet).
- People are frustrated when juries reach a verdict that is the opposite of what made sense and/or what was widely anticipated by legal experts and commentators. This concern is exacerbated by the fact that juries are not required to explain themselves or even prove that they listened and understood.
- People are frustrated by the concept of “country club” prisons, let alone such places being reserved for the rich, famous, and politically-connected.
- Inmates may receive a free college education and job training whereas many hard-working, law-abiding Americans have to pay for such on their own, or at minimum, jump through numerous “hoops” to receive financial assistance for such.
- People are concerned about the criminalization of marijuana (which may soon be a thing of the past just like alcohol prohibition).
- People are frustrated by the unwinnable “war on drugs” (i.e., drug addicts are sent to prison for harsh mandatory sentences as “punishment” instead of being sent to medical/psychological facilities for help and treatment).
- Inmates become “hardened” in prison due to the nature of “prison life” and “prison culture,” ultimately to be thrown back onto the streets better skilled at crime, and possibly more inclined to commit crimes than when they entered prison.
- Gangs are somehow still able to operate as gangs within prison.
- People are concerned about prison corruption in general (e.g., smuggled items such as drugs and cell phones, sex with guards, etc.)
- Prisons accomplish neither punishment nor rehabilitation, yet The People are asked to believe that prisons somehow magically accomplish both, and simultaneously no less.
- There are no major consequences (e.g., life in prison until death) for escaping from prison and/or facilitating a prisoner's escape.
- Major crimes are increasingly being committed by minors—in some cases, young children.
- People are frustrated by the concept of “three hots and a cot” (i.e., three hot meals and a bed) guaranteed for inmates while many law-abiding, hard-working Americans live day by day without the certainty of such.
- People are frustrated that there is free unlimited medical care for inmates, while many law-abiding, hard-working Americans spend a huge amount of money on health insurance, and still may have to literally beg their fellow Americans if/when they face a major medical crisis.
- People who have not yet been proven guilty of a crime are often held in prison for lengthy periods of time while awaiting trial. If such a person is later proven guilty, s/he will likely receive credit for time served which implies that the inmate was supposedly receiving punishment and/or rehabilitation while s/he was legally still considered innocent (before having been proven guilty).
- Free cable TV was available to inmates in some prisons before it was even available to law-abiding Americans who were willing to pay for such service.
- The racial demographic of America's inmates is highly disproportional to the racial demographic of Americans overall.
- Rich, famous, and politically-connected people receive lesser sentences and/or completely avoid prison when convicted of crimes (e.g., the concept of the proverbial “slap on the wrist”).
- Fines are disproportional to each wealth-class of Americans (e.g., a $100 fine relative to the net worth of a very poor person, a solidly middle-class person, and a millionaire) .
- People are frustrated with government corruption and incompetence in general, and with prisons and courts in particular.
- Inmates may be released from prison early for “good behavior.” (Contrast this with the theoretical concept of expecting and insisting upon good behavior, and punishing bad behavior with an extended or life sentence in prison).
- Prisons are overcrowded due to the incarceration of non-violent offenders, many of whom are simply drug addicts who need help. More than half of inmates in America's prisons are non-violent offenders. (Estimates seem to range from 50% to 75%).
- Police misconduct may go uninvestigated and/or unpunished.
- Police activity statistics (e.g., traffic stops, searches, arrests, etc.) are not proportional to the racial demographic of the population.
- Police officers are increasingly under violent physical attack and under the threat of violence from an increasingly angry population.
- Police officers now have to be concerned that they will be accused of using unnecessary or excessive force in the process of making an arrest, stopping a crime in progress, defending themselves, or preventing a suspect from fleeing.
- America spends many times more money on an inmate than it does on a school child.
- If a person develops a medical condition which is extremely costly, it may realistically be in the person's best interest to commit a crime which will send him/her to prison so that s/he can receive medical care that s/he could not otherwise afford.
- There are mandatory minimum sentences for drug-related offenses that even judges often don't agree with.
- A very large percentage of American adults are either in prison, on parole, on probation, or have a criminal record.
- America leads the world in inmates per capita.
- America has more guns per capita than any other developed country.
- There is a very high rate of recidivism among criminals (i.e., inmates who are released from prison very quickly find themselves right back in prison).
- Many crimes are committed by pairs or teams of criminals who met while in prison, and who may have even plotted their crime while in prison.
- Many people have become desensitized to the very concept of prison and its societal effects. This may be the result of the way prisons are portrayed in pop culture and entertainment (e.g., comedies, dramas, music videos, etc).
- People who are accused of major crimes may be free on bail or bond while awaiting trial, and even if they are monitored in some way, they are free to commit more crimes.
- People who are accused of major crimes are sometimes offered an admittedly unobtainable dollar amount for bail or bond, but this is frowned upon by a society that believes that bail or bond should have been completely out of the question.
- Even though we like the idea of cases being judged by The People (as opposed to a judge who we automatically assume is corrupt), we also intuitively know that the majority of our population has become unfit to perform effectively as jurors, and that the situation is getting worse by the day.
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