Just Getting to Know You, Every Little...
Just Getting to Know You, Every Little Thing About You
Check out the 17-page, 58-item questionnaire given to prospective jurors in the criminal case of the United States of America vs. Richard T. Silberman.
This baby’s got it all: short-answer questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, yes-no questions, do-you-know-these- people questions, what-about-this questions, even essay questions.
All to be completed “under penalty of perjury.”
I’ve seen loan applications that weren’t as long. The last time I took a test this complex, I got three units of upper-division credit.
The questionnaire asks about education, spouse, offspring, work responsibilities, reading and viewing habits, familiarity with law enforcement and the courts, knowledge of high finance, general mind-set and name recognition of 115 players in the upcoming drama.
I half expected a question about heavy petting on a first date.
Rita Hanscom, associate professor of law at National University, says jury questionnaires are increasing, particularly in heavy headline trials. She studies these things and does a public seminar with former jurors each year for Law Week.
She says questionnaires are a good, but not infallible, way to spot the media-bespoiled juror or the rogue who will refuse to deliberate.
And she says most jurors don’t mind giving out information: “I’ve heard jurors say they feel cheated if don’t get asked about themselves.”
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a privacy nut. That’s a short slide to paranoia.
Maybe what chaps my lips about the Silberman questionnaire is that it brings out the latent Mad magazine in me. Take question 33:
“Have you or has any member of your immediate family ever been employed by a brokerage or securities dealer?”
No, but I had an Uncle Chick who loved to play the horses. I inherited his view of risky financial ventures.
“I hope I break even today,” he said on his way to the track, “I can sure use the money.”
Conclusion: I don’t think I’d be a very good juror.
Food for Thought
Everywhere you look.
* Student activism 1990.
Students at San Diego State University will take part in a “rotating fast” for 35 days to protest spraying pesticides on crops.
Each day, a different student will go without eating. At day’s end, the faster can flee to the cafeteria.
* Big-time auctioneer Rick Cole comes to San Diego on Saturday to handle the sale of 85 vintage/import/muscle cars at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.
Viewing starts at noon, bidding at 6 p.m. It’s part of the 2nd annual Roger Ward Invitational Historic Grand Prix.
Cole of North Hollywood is called whenever the stuff is expensive and the bidding is fierce.
His last trip to San Diego was in November, 1984: To auction off booty from the collapse of J. David & Co.
* The May edition of Sunset magazine has a full-color spread on San Diego, the “Air Capital of the United States.”
The prose and pictures promote the second Air/Space America show, which was shot down sometime after the magazine’s deadline. Oops.
For Gringo Employers
Carlsbad writer Sharon Prosser has just published “Spanish on the Job,” a 107-page handbook for North County residents who want to hire migrants for construction, landscaping, restaurant work or housekeeping.
She bills it as a good way to learn to communicate without “tiresome Spanish dictionaries, time-consuming Spanish lessons, etc.”
Among the key words and phrases in the mixed grammatical effort:
* Can you prune? ( Puede podar? )
* You will have Sunday off. ( Descansaras los domingos .)
* Clean this up. ( Limpia esto .)
* Are you legal? ( Tienes papeles ?)
* The barbecue ( la barbacoa) .
* Pay attention. ( Ponga atencion. )
* Social Security number ( numero de seguro social ).
* Bark chips ( los pedazos de corteza ).
