It never really occurred to me before, but so much about the jury process is designed to intimidate the jurors into conforming with a pre-existing set of behaviors. Like, the carceral system *needs* a jury, not because 12 peers adjudicating on someone's guilt or innocence is more "fair", but because public inclusion (coerced and intimidated though it is) is necessary to maintain the social licence of the court system. The courts don't care if a jury finds the correct verdict, they only care if the jury plays its role in upholding the legitimacy of the monopoly of violence that the court system represents.
I got a jury duty summons once that was cancelled the morning of, but I was going into the selection prepared to explain how coercive the selection is. Specifically, I had laid out the financial hit that I would be taking under threat of a several thousand dollar fine, which is a textbook definition of coercion. I was prepared to make a spectacle of myself while calmly outlining the cruelty, hopefully to make them see me as a liability. "Remember, laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic and ethnic group in a given nation. It's the promise of violence that's enacted, and the police are basically an occupying army. Know what I mean?"
@@Levacque I've never received a jury summons, but I imagine if I did what I would want to do, and lecture the court (and other jurors) on why the whole system is flawed, I would get punished. I'm torn between doing that and getting the boot, or else just privately committing to always finding the defendant not-guilty as a protest to the whole thing. Hopefully I never have to find out!
@@MrARock001 I looked into it for Canadian courts and I couldn't find anything specifically saying I could be held in contempt during selection, but I'd believe it's possible. In the research process I definitely saw that such a thing can happen in America, and despite a lot of differences, our courts are filled with lawyers and judges who studied or worked in the American system.
"Zachary the fart factory." That's something my brother put up with as a kid 😂😂
as a zachary this episode is wild
Zach Attack!!!
My life is absolutely better with my Boys!
It never really occurred to me before, but so much about the jury process is designed to intimidate the jurors into conforming with a pre-existing set of behaviors. Like, the carceral system *needs* a jury, not because 12 peers adjudicating on someone's guilt or innocence is more "fair", but because public inclusion (coerced and intimidated though it is) is necessary to maintain the social licence of the court system. The courts don't care if a jury finds the correct verdict, they only care if the jury plays its role in upholding the legitimacy of the monopoly of violence that the court system represents.
I got a jury duty summons once that was cancelled the morning of, but I was going into the selection prepared to explain how coercive the selection is. Specifically, I had laid out the financial hit that I would be taking under threat of a several thousand dollar fine, which is a textbook definition of coercion. I was prepared to make a spectacle of myself while calmly outlining the cruelty, hopefully to make them see me as a liability.
"Remember, laws are threats made by the dominant socioeconomic and ethnic group in a given nation. It's the promise of violence that's enacted, and the police are basically an occupying army. Know what I mean?"
@@Levacque I've never received a jury summons, but I imagine if I did what I would want to do, and lecture the court (and other jurors) on why the whole system is flawed, I would get punished. I'm torn between doing that and getting the boot, or else just privately committing to always finding the defendant not-guilty as a protest to the whole thing. Hopefully I never have to find out!
@@MrARock001 I looked into it for Canadian courts and I couldn't find anything specifically saying I could be held in contempt during selection, but I'd believe it's possible. In the research process I definitely saw that such a thing can happen in America, and despite a lot of differences, our courts are filled with lawyers and judges who studied or worked in the American system.
37:35
Hey so I really hope Funky Dave is this this cool ass dude I went to school with, David Funk. Wouldn't catch that man fakin a funk.
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