Monday, January 19, 2009

Tips on jury selection

Apparently the San Francisco Public Defender's Office doesn't want Asians on its juries.  A former intern in the office blogged about a conversation  she overheard in which her bosses said not to put any Asians on the jury for a case involving an allegedly drunken citizen receiving a bit of oral pleasure in his car because "Asians don't drink, they love Jesus and they're creeped out by everything."

Kelly Siegler, ex-prosecutor in the Harris County D.A.'s Office (and ex-candidate for D.A.), didn't want anyone who was a member of Lakewood Church (headed by Joel Osteen) on her juries because they were "screwballs and nuts."

Dallas County's systematic practice of excluding blacks from juries in 60's and 70's, because "they almost always empathize with the accused" was the basis of the 5th Circuit's overturning of a 30-year old murder conviction this week.

See also:

No comments: