"A jury has spoken." [View all]

[Jackpine Radical]

I have pretty much stayed out of the Trayvon Martin discussions, especially as pertains to Zimmerman's culpability or lack thereof. This is mostly because I didn't have all the information at my disposal.

Juries sometimes do the wrong thing--sometimes by convicting on the basis of inadequate evidence, inadequate comprehension of the evidence, or simple prejudice, and sometimes by a finding of Not Guilty, also on the basis of inadequate evidence, inadequate comprehension of the evidence, or simple prejudice.

I have had a role in a lot of proceedings that gave me a depth of insight, and have often seen juries deliver verdicts I believed, based on my particular expertise, to be wrong. Sometimes people whom I consider obviously guilty go free, and other times, IMO, the innocent are wrongfully convicted.

On other occasions, I have seen juries collectively exercise great wisdom.

(OK, before proceeding, I admit it--"Good jury" = "agrees with me"; "bad jury" = "dsiagrees with me.&quot

You never know what a jury is going to do. Any trial is a crapshoot.

Juries and jury trials are a seriously flawed social social institution.

But I know of nothing better.

I have testified before various judges (some of them now on a State Supreme Court whose members amuse themselves by physically throttling each other) whom I would never trust to give fair consideration of the evidence, particularly if the defendant was an indigent Somali or, on the other hand, a well-heeled corporation. In those circumstances, if my interest were in fairness of outcome, I would much rather throw my lot with a jury trial. Sometimes a crap shoot is better than an assuredly corrupt decision.

So, back to Zimmerman. The verdict is in. There is unlikely to be an appeal. Maybe the decision was corrupted by racism, or maybe it was bungled by a lousy prosecution. Or maybe it was even the right decision. I don't know, and I lack the knowledge to be second-guessing, particularly in the context of some rather crazy Florida law.

All I know is that our system is very imperfect, but then so is every attainable alternative. It is, to borrow a thought from Winston Churchill, the worst system in existence--except for all the others.

It is time to move on. It is time to channel our outrage, or sorrow, or whatever emotions are clouding our world right now, into productive effort.

Killing the jury system is not the answer.

Working to transform ourselves into a society where black kids can get home safely with their hoodies and their Skittles is a lot more useful outlet for what we are feeling.

On this one, I stand with Obama. "A jury has spoken."