A FORUM FOR COMMUNITY ISSUES : Platform : Does a Jury or a Judge Dispense Better Justice?

Our jury convicted a man of murder. I think about him all the time. Although we convicted him of first-degree murder, we later heard that the judge reduced his conviction to second-degree murder, and that he would only spend about a year in jail. He’s probably out now.

It felt really good to serve on a jury, although it sounds strange to say that, considering that it was a murder case. But because we knew that this was someone’s life, we took it very, very seriously. And after the trial several of us continued to see each other over the next year or so. We felt we’d been brought together for an extremely serious purpose. It had to do with patriotism. Even though there are flaws in the system, it still works.

We deliberated about a day and a half. The foreman was very concerned that everyone had a chance to say what he or she felt.

As for myself, if I were charged with a crime, and I were guilty, I’d take my chances with a jury rather than a judge, because they might be more likely to screw up. And if I was innocent? I’d still trust a jury. I have faith in 12 strangers coming together for the purpose of deciding a case. If they were friends with alliances or positions to maintain, it might be different.