A jury of one's peers?

[JBeukema]

What, exactly does and should this mean? Is a middle-class white woman the peer of a poor black man from Detroit's inner city? Is a black lesbian woman the peer of a neonazi? Are you and I peers of Rupert Madoff?

What if the poor black man is accused of robbing the CEO of GM, the neonazi is accused of killing an interracial gay couple, and- well, we all know about Madoff now.

By what stretch are these persons the peers of the defendant? In each case, is there not reason to suspect they have motivation to declare the defendant guilty regardless of reality? And yet would not a true jury of their peers be suspected to find them not guilty despite any evidence against them?

What then, is a jury of one's peers, and is such a thing necessarily a good thing?

 

[Cecilie1200]

Ahhh, more Balkanization by way of word redefinition.

First, the Constitution says nothing about a "jury of one's peers", thus this is not actually a guaranteed right. One is merely guaranteed a trial by "an impartial jury".

Second, the courts, from whence comes the whole "jury of peers" line, interpret this NOT to mean a black person being tried by an all-black jury, or a geezer being tried by a jury full of old farts, but a cross-section of the community obtained without being exclusionary to any particular group.

 

[JBeukema]

Ahhh, more Balkanization by way of word redefinition.

First, the Constitution says nothing about a "jury of one's peers", thus this is not actually a guaranteed right. One is merely guaranteed a trial by "an impartial jury".

Second, the courts, from whence comes the whole "jury of peers" line, interpret this NOT to mean a black person being tried by an all-black jury, or a geezer being tried by a jury full of old farts, but a cross-section of the community obtained without being exclusionary to any particular group.

Is a middle class white woman from the suburbs really part of the same community as a poor black man from inner Detroit?

 

[RadiomanATL]

jury of one's peers n. a guaranteed right of criminal defendants, in which "peer" means an "equal." This has been interpreted by courts to mean that the available jurors include a broad spectrum of the population, particularly of race, national origin and gender. Jury selection may include no process which excludes those of a particular race or intentionally narrows the spectrum of possible jurors. It does not mean that women are to be tried by women, Asians by Asians, or African Americans by African Americans.

jury of one's peers legal definition of jury of one's peers. jury of one's peers synonyms by the Free Online Law Dictionary.

 

[RadiomanATL]

Ahhh, more Balkanization by way of word redefinition.

First, the Constitution says nothing about a "jury of one's peers", thus this is not actually a guaranteed right. One is merely guaranteed a trial by "an impartial jury".

Second, the courts, from whence comes the whole "jury of peers" line, interpret this NOT to mean a black person being tried by an all-black jury, or a geezer being tried by a jury full of old farts, but a cross-section of the community obtained without being exclusionary to any particular group.

Is a middle class white woman from the suburbs really part of the same community as a poor black man from inner Detroit?

It really has nothing to do with a community either. It has to do with a jury of one's equals (under the eyes of the law). Since we're all equal in that regard, impartiality becomes (or is supposed to anyway) the deciding factor during the voir dire process.

 

[goldcatt]

The term a jury of one's peers is a common law term not incorporated into the COTUS, but was certainly in existence at the time and for at least a thousand years before it was written. We can thank the Vikings for that particular privilege, BTW. It was originally a Norse tradition to have one's "peers" sit in judgment as a jury.

It's meant a lot of different things through history. Currently, it means simply what Radio posted. A broad representative sample of the community in which the trial is being held. Which makes sense when you think about it. Legally at least, all Americans are equal with equal rights and responsibilities. So anybody and everybody is your equal, or "peer", no matter who you are.

 

[Liberty]

Another fucking retarded and pointless race thread.

One race: Human Race.

If you disagree, then you are a race baiter with an agenda...and a flaming piece of shit.

That's all.

 

[uscitizen]

I have no peers.