On a long road trip, my wife and I were discussing the merits of the jury system, particularly with the seemingly cruel and unusual treatment of being a juror if you are sequestered. I would strongly favor the replacement of our current "voluntary" jury system with a professional jury system (for all court cases, not just sequestered). If I were an innocent man on trial, I would prefer to have a jury with experience and training in dealing with law and especially lawyers. Not only can jury duty ruin your life if you get into a big deal trial, but it is expensive for most people. Consider the surgeon who gives up $x,000's per day on trial, or the homemaker who has to hire sitters to replace their absence, compensated only with a few dozen dollars.
I also pose the following question: Given the choice between a year of being sequestered away from contact with the outside world or jail time, what would you choose? How much jail time would make you indifferent? I am thinking up to 1 month in a minimum security prison, provided there are no professional consequences to being a convict of this type.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
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4 comments:
Minimum security resort? Shit, we should be so lucky! Do you know they have conjugal visits there?
Professional jurors is an interesting idea. I wonder how one would go about reviewing performance.
OJ Simpson prefers the current system of jury selection.
I weighed in on this topic a long time ago. It was not warmly received in libertarian circles.
Keep in mind also that sequestration is excruciatingly rare -- practically a myth in this day and age.
It's interesting you ask that, seeing as there's a minimum security prison about two blocks from my house.
I suppose it's all in the structure of the sequestering. As an economist, I'm pretty fortunate that all I really need to do what I do is an internet connection and maybe access to EconLit. Do I have access to this as a seqestered/jailed person? When I'm sequestered, I can read about current events, just not my case, right? That shouldn't hurt me too much...and I'd still have the evenings to produce. I could think about ideas during the trial-- not unlike Friday seminars.
If you say no contact with the outside world...that might be tough for doing what I do. I'd prefer a contact-allowed, minimum security resort, Chris Rock considerations aside, for well beyond a year of isolated sequestered life.
I'm with Bryce and Michael Bolton.
I'll take a year of sequesteration (oh, c'mon spellcheck! how is that not a word?) over even a week in prison.
I'm no fool... I watch Lockdown on NatGeoHD.
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