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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Nov. 4, 2005
/ 2 Mar-Cheshvan, 5766
The Jury Is Out
By
Gene Weingarten
. . . of the Question. Thoughts on how not to get picked
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
I recently had a chance to serve as a juror on a first-degree murder trialI was in the pool from which the jury was selected. But right from the start, things did not go well.
I became instantly suspect to the defense lawyer as soon as I disclosed that my wife is a federal prosecutor. And I became instantly suspect to the prosecutor as soon as he saw me: I have a '60s-era mustache and '60s-era hair, giving me the look of a man who might well accept, as a murder defense, "the munchies." I think I still had the judge in my corner, though, until he asked me if I had ever written about the court system. "Well, I write humor," I said, looking up at him pleasantly, hoping that would suffice. It wouldn't. And I was under oath. ". . . So, uh, I naturally have to write about the courts from time to time."
This little operation you got here? It's a hoot! (I'm pretty sure that's how he heard it, based on how quickly he dispatched me back to my seat.)
Still, I got to sit in the courtroom for a while and watch other people be selected for the jury. The whole process is instructive. For example, when the defendant is accused of murder, serious courtroom security is desirable. But, apparently, the security cannot be too obvious, on the theory that it might prejudice the jurors against a defendant if they thought that, without supervision, he might leap from his chair and take one of them hostage with a cafeteria fork. And so there was a tough-looking guy seated behind the defendant, in a place where lawyers customarily sit. I think he was trying to look like a lawyer, because he wore a suit. But it was a shiny suit with a chest bulge, and he also wore an expression as flat as last Thursday's mug of beer. If he was a lawyer, he was a lawyer with a colorful nickname in quotation marks (e.g., "The Squid") who owns a Queens, N.Y., trash-compacting and olive-oil-importing business.
The defendant also wore a suit. Evidently, defendants are encouraged to wear suits, even when it is most likely the first suit they have ever worn, even when they look every bit as comfortable in it as a corpse in a casket. (The prospective juror seated next to me mentioned that she had once been in a courtroom where the defendant wore a real nice suit but his shoes were prison-issue cardboard slippers. Our justice system is good, not perfect.)
At one point, the judge directed a series of questions to the pool of prospective jurors, asking us to stand if our answer was: Yes. "Have you ever been a victim of a crime?" "Do you have religious problems sitting in judgment of people?" And so forth. Then, to ascertain whether anyone was insufficiently fluent in English, he asked: "Is there anybody who cannot understand me?" He asked this in English. No one stood up. If anyone did, wouldn't it be prima facie evidence of perjury?
One of the prospective jurors looked exactly like Laurence Olivier playing the evil Nazi dentist in "Marathon Man." When he got called to the bench, I half-expected him to ask the judge: "Is it zafe?" I don't know if he did because the jury cannot hear this portion of the proceedings. The judge pushes a button, and a loud, staticky noise drowns out the conversation at the bench. This is exactly like snow on a TV screen, except you have no remote and can't switch the station, and after a while you would happily trade it for any programming at all, even "Saturday Night Live" during the Joe Piscopo era.
Eventually, the jury got seated after a lengthy tug of war between the prosecutor and the defense lawyer, each of whom was exercising his "peremptory challenges." This appears to be a legal term for the defense excluding white jurors and the prosecution excluding black jurors. That's against the rules, but the judge seems never to notice, like at a pro wrestling match where the ref never notices that the bad guy's manager is hitting the good guy over the head with a chair.
The whole thing took an entire day, and when it was over, I could see pride and excitement and awe on the faces of the surviving jurors, who had triumphed in a grueling but glorious ritual as old as the republic. They remained proud and delighted and awed for a few hours, when they were disbanded. Procedural screw-up. As Emily Litella would say during a better era of SNL: Never mind.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Gene Weingarten writes the Below the Beltway humor column for The Washington Post. To comment, please click here.
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