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40 lines
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40 lines
2.0 KiB
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<xml>
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<div class="article">
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<p>
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STACKING THE JURY IN GEORGIA</p>
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<p> We have been informed by an alert correspondent of a likely
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jury-rigging scheme in south Georgia. It may be that variants of
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this kind of sleazy operation are common throughout the country.
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If you are rarely or never called for jury duty despite being
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registered to vote and licensed to drive, perhaps a little
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digging around might yield some interesting information. If and
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when jury-rigging can be identified in a local judicial district,
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the press might be very interested in what you have uncovered.
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Such information could be of great utility in promoting awareness
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of FIJA, and could be used to rally excluded groups around the
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issue of jury rights.</p>
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<p> In Georgia, it appears that the local legal establishment
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draws names for the jury pool from voters who have voted in the
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Republican primary election. It is known that some people are
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selected repeatedly in short periods of time, while others are
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seldom selected--once in twenty years, for instance. In addition,
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a secret list of jurors who have given guilty verdicts in the
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past is maintained by the District Attorney. A local defense
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attorney petitioned the court for a copy of that list because it
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gave the D.A. an unfair advantage during jury selection, but the
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judge refused to require the D.A. to release the list.</p>
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<p> The question, of course, is are people being selected over
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and over again for "hanging juries"? The D.A. could build an
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impressive conviction record by doing this, but defendants'
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rights to a fair trial are being shredded! </p>
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<p> A local attorney points out that conviction-prone jurors are
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the kind of people insurance companies love to have hear
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personal-injury cases, and they tend to side with polluters
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against environmentalists, and with the establishment against
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civil rights plaintiffs. The Jury Commission is scrambling to
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cover its tracks now that questions have been raised.
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</p>
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</div>
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</xml>
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