Trial by Jury -- What an Ordeal!!!!!

TRIAL BY JURY – What An Ordeal!!!!!

As we saw yesterday, the predecessor to the Trial by Jury was the little ditty known as Trial by Ordeal. The idea was “God Help the Innocent.” These Ordeals were religious events used to determine the guilt or innocence of an individual. The Trial by Ordeal was replaced with a Jury Trial. Much better.........


We know so much better now. You’d never find us using something as crass and unrealistic as a Trial by Ordeal. Imagine....making someone grab a cross and waiting to see if they heal or infect. How preposterous! Our system depends upon the jury trial. A trial by our peers. No longer do we have to appeal to God to help declare our innocence after undergoing a physical Ordeal!

No, what we have is much more scientific.... and much more civilized......

Let’s see. The Judge is the chief priest. He wears a robe and is in charge of all protocol within the confines of the sanctuary (courtroom, sorry). The prosecutor and defense attorney are the clergy, each in charge of making sure everyone stands when they are supposed to and sits when they are supposed to. In addition, each person will occasionally articulate Latin phrases at the appropriate times and sometimes may even utter something approaching English, but usually unintelligible to the layperson.

The Jury is the means by which truth is found. They are the “finders of fact.” The Ordeal involves both prosecutor and defense attorney struggling to admit as many “potential facts” to the jury as possible, with the Judge deciding which potential facts the jury should hear and which they should not. Once the trial is complete, the Judge murmurs the ritual incantation of Jury Instructions to the jury and they are told to retire to a small, enclosed room. The Bailiff stands and swears to allow the Jurors “neither meat nor drink” unless the Court orders and to keep all outside influences from the Jury. The Jury then deliberates. Once they come to a decision, the Jury Foreperson sends a note to the Judge, who reviews the Verdict. The note is sent back to the Foreperson, who announces the finding of fact by the Jury. The Guilt or Innocence (or non-guilt) of the party has been discovered!!!!! Or has it?

Tell me, isn’t a jury trial simply our choice of Ordeal?....our Judicium Dei? God help the innocent! Did God help OJ? Did the Jury find the “facts” there? What about where the Jury finds the “facts” that convict people who are later freed because of DNA evidence which shows that they couldn’t possibly have committed the crime in question?

What about the accused? His Ordeal is the Ordeal of Trial by Jury. What if the Jury doesn’t like him because of his Race? Nationality? Culture? Religion (like, say, he wears a Turban) ? Looks? What if he’s ugly and stutters? What if he’s stupid? What if the “victim” is lying? What if the police lie? What if the Jury doesn’t like the accused’s attorney? What if the Judge is a former prosecutor and favors the prosecution? What if the Judge is up for re-election and this is a high-profile case? What if the Judge favors the defense? What if the Judge doesn’t allow evidence to get to the Jury that would help the accused?

The point is.....why do we have this overwhelming confidence that the Jury will necessarily make the right call? Is our need to believe that our Justice system generally treats everyone equally in our Egalitarian Country so strong that we simply can’t stop to look and see if maybe the Emperor is naked?

We sleep better when we believe that bad people get punished and innocent people are vindicated. Are we just taking Sominex and calling it good?

Blawgerman