Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Oh my
So, the defense won an appeal after the jurors consulted the Bible, after
Lawyers for Mr. Harlan also specifically urged the jurors to consider biblical wisdom, according to the Supreme Court's decision, with a request that they find mercy in their hearts "as God ultimately took mercy on Abraham."
You can just never please some people.
The deeper point, however, is thus. What are we in jury rooms, if we cannot be who we are? What's the difference between me reading the Bible beforehand and talking about it and bringing one with me? The majority seems to assume that there is some sort of core logical person that you can get to if you tell people to leave themselves at the door. At least that's what SCOTUS seems to indicate these days, themselves being the ideal logical people.
Lawyers for Mr. Harlan also specifically urged the jurors to consider biblical wisdom, according to the Supreme Court's decision, with a request that they find mercy in their hearts "as God ultimately took mercy on Abraham."
You can just never please some people.
The deeper point, however, is thus. What are we in jury rooms, if we cannot be who we are? What's the difference between me reading the Bible beforehand and talking about it and bringing one with me? The majority seems to assume that there is some sort of core logical person that you can get to if you tell people to leave themselves at the door. At least that's what SCOTUS seems to indicate these days, themselves being the ideal logical people.
