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       Wednesday, March 15, 2006

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Free Speech in the Jury Room Under Attack

It's pretty amazing, isn't it? Jury room confidentiality is one of our oldest and most basic protections. Yet in Idaho it has just been subjected to sustained attack by functionaries of the Idaho government. I refer to the case of former nun, Carol Asher. In the jury room, she questioned the ruling of a judge on a legal matter and also said that she answered to a higher authority than the judge -- God. Perhaps as a result of that, a government prosecution was tossed out. Note, however, that the prosecution case did have big holes in it and it was perfectly reasonable for Asher to point them out.

In breach of jury-room confidentiality, however, another juror went public with a report of Carol Asher's comments. So what did the State of Idaho do? Did it prosecute the juror who violated confidentiality? No way. It prosecuted Carol Asher. What for? For "felony perjury". Perjury?? Perjury is telling lies. What lies did she tell? She was being particularly frank, it seems to me.

The State's case against Asher was tossed out but that was not enough. They then took it to appeal. Now the appeal too has just been lost. Will that be the end of it? One certainly hopes so. See here and here.

Clearly, however, putting pressure on jurors to do what the government tells them is what it is all about. Jurors are not supposed to think any more. One of your most basic protections is being chipped away.

And do you need all the protections against conviction-hungry prosecutors that you can get!! Have a browse through the posts on Strange Justice if you doubt it.

This writer has a good comment on what should happen next.

(For more postings from me, see EDUCATION WATCH, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS and DISSECTING LEFTISM. My Home Page. Email me (John Ray) here.)

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posted by JR at 3:35 PM  

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