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Apr. 5th, 2010 11:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
winterbadgerfirst criminal trial without a jury in 350 years ends
Is it just me, or is this disturbing?
Even more, I'm engaged in an argument with some of my UK editing colleagues about whether the elimination of jury trials altogether is desirable. "It's such a bother being a juror! Jury trials are so expensive! Everyone gets excused anyway, so why bother?"
Yes, jury trials are more expensive than trials without juries. For the matter of that, having trials is much more expensive than just having the police arrest someone and having a magistrate sentence them--why bother with trials?
Does everyone really get excused service? Is the solution to do away with juries, then? Or perhaps it might be to tighten up on the rules for excuses? In my county, the court will accept almost no excuse for failure to serve; even those with legitimate reasons they can't serve on a given date are expected to serve on a different date. But service is not a hardship; almost no trials go for more that 2-3 days.
Is it just me, or is this disturbing?
Even more, I'm engaged in an argument with some of my UK editing colleagues about whether the elimination of jury trials altogether is desirable. "It's such a bother being a juror! Jury trials are so expensive! Everyone gets excused anyway, so why bother?"
Yes, jury trials are more expensive than trials without juries. For the matter of that, having trials is much more expensive than just having the police arrest someone and having a magistrate sentence them--why bother with trials?
Does everyone really get excused service? Is the solution to do away with juries, then? Or perhaps it might be to tighten up on the rules for excuses? In my county, the court will accept almost no excuse for failure to serve; even those with legitimate reasons they can't serve on a given date are expected to serve on a different date. But service is not a hardship; almost no trials go for more that 2-3 days.
