Harsh Judgment of Jury Association

* In response to: “Reformers Want to Give Jurors a Freer Hand,” (Sept. 7):

Peyman Mattahedah and his group, Fully Informed Jury Assn., are just one more cog in a gear that runs the machine of anti-democracy. A group such as this is really an insignificant 2,000-person organization attempting to get their ridiculous pet peeve off their chests. What is frightening is that you printed an article giving them a rational premise of which they are not deserving.

The United States’ democracy is based on majority rule with minority rights. Our legislative process and our balance of powers concept ensure this in the best way possible for a large nation with hundreds of millions of people. Does this organization truly believe that democracy is better insured when random juries of 12 people decide in a random fashion which laws they feel like imposing?

In this scenario our nation would indoctrinate an irrational system of minority rule without majority rights.

Think about the nations we know of today where this scheme of justice applies, and we should become a little more wary of these types of groups. I would bet that Mr. Mattahedah would hope a jury was in a good mood if under his system he ever got wrongly accused without any evidence.

GREGORY L. FOOTE

Corona