Apart from stating how wonderfully written this article is and thanking OP for sharing this, this one sentence stood out to me, and wanted to comment here as a 'highlight'. I don't think I can add...
And I know it doesn’t matter, none of this matters, we can’t refuse to punish people because they’re people or it would make a mockery of the entire justice system, but—I do wonder how many people would still be tough on crime if they had to look every one of the criminals in the face.
Apart from stating how wonderfully written this article is and thanking OP for sharing this, this one sentence stood out to me, and wanted to comment here as a 'highlight'. I don't think I can add to it without making the statement weaker. It may only be a few sentences but they're almost perfectly written in my opinion.
Its a hell of a thing to walk into a courtroom and hand out a decision that carries a life (or near life) sentence, even with 11 other people there with you. I wasn't the one to speak for the...
Its a hell of a thing to walk into a courtroom and hand out a decision that carries a life (or near life) sentence, even with 11 other people there with you. I wasn't the one to speak for the jury, I don't think I could have. I didn't dwell on that moment over the years but this really brought that back.
I am hopeful for a time in the future when we have better equity, better early childhood education, nutrition, social cohesiveness and emotional regulation via chemistry and love, in which stupid...
This crime was stupid. [...] The entire crime, from approaching Wright to fleeing the scene, took about ninety seconds. I don’t know how many crimes are stupid. [...]
I am hopeful for a time in the future when we have better equity, better early childhood education, nutrition, social cohesiveness and emotional regulation via chemistry and love, in which stupid crimes are drastically reduced. I am a person with a heavy load of executive functioning deficiencies: the amount of hurt and frustration I've completely inadvertently heaped upon my loved ones is scandalous. I have been stupid many many times. Being stupid should be a crime, but right now they often end up being a crime for many people just like me who grew up in circumstances different from my own.
There is no satisfaction here from justice served and wrongs righted. There is only grief.
Is this a Quaker view? This is how I feel about a lot of crime/wrong/sin/failings: there's very little (if any) satisfaction and justice, just grief. It's two cute foxes rescued from a forest fire and one ended up hurting the other in confusion whilst in a cage.
Despite the above: What a fantastic read. The author's contraband knowledge compiled into this piece gave me a lot of appreciation and optimism for Western justice systems.
I was a juror on a murder trial once. I always wanted to do jury duty so I was pretty excited and it didn't disappoint. I also believe its an important part of the legal process and part of being...
I was a juror on a murder trial once. I always wanted to do jury duty so I was pretty excited and it didn't disappoint. I also believe its an important part of the legal process and part of being a member of our society.
Similarly, if someone tried to make arguments for jury nullification or to pull out their phones to fact-check something, the other jurors would ignore them
This (and a few other comments) really surprised me. When we were sequestered for deliberation (about 2.5 - 3 days) we had to hand over our cell phones, had no contact with the outside, did 12 hour days, and in our off time we stayed in a hotel under guard (to prevent contact). It was kind of difficult for a few of the jurors but my job involves long periods of time without my cell phone or contact with my family, so I didn't find it too bad.
I have become convinced of the absolute necessity of mass surveillance. If we didn’t have access to the video recording of Hairston-Bassette committing homicide, he probably would have been found not guilty for reasons of self-defense—and would have been in a position to kill someone else. I understand that there are serious civil liberties concerns regarding mass surveillance and I wouldn’t want the government to have cameras it can look at whenever it wants, even if it has no reason to suspect a crime. But I think it’s good for private citizens to have their own surveillance cameras, which the government can access with probable cause and a warrant.
How I view surveillance was definitely changed by my experience. I've definitely always leaned towards privacy, but it opened up a deep conflict in my mind... on one hand I value the ability to move through society without being tracked and to have private communications, on the other hand a large part of my case was text message data. I believe carriers store less data now, but at the time of this murder at least one carrier stored the content of the messages, so when the police got a warrant they got EVERYTHING.
This crime was stupid. True crime and fictional murder mysteries tend to select for interesting crimes: glamorous villains, clever plots, and motivations that are rooted in someone’s backstory and speak to deep truths of the human condition. Bomani Hairston-Bassette, on the other hand, shot a guy for no reason in a situation where three minutes’ thought would show that committing homicide advanced none of his goals.
My case was really interesting but at the same time the people involved were also so stupid. We had a solid window into what happened after the murder and their life kind of deteriorating (it was already in shambles before the murder).
I often wonder, what would they have had to do to not be caught for this murder... and honestly I don't think they would have had to do too much to not get caught. THAT is a wild thought and REALLY changed how I view things.
Apart from stating how wonderfully written this article is and thanking OP for sharing this, this one sentence stood out to me, and wanted to comment here as a 'highlight'. I don't think I can add to it without making the statement weaker. It may only be a few sentences but they're almost perfectly written in my opinion.
Its a hell of a thing to walk into a courtroom and hand out a decision that carries a life (or near life) sentence, even with 11 other people there with you. I wasn't the one to speak for the jury, I don't think I could have. I didn't dwell on that moment over the years but this really brought that back.
I am hopeful for a time in the future when we have better equity, better early childhood education, nutrition, social cohesiveness and emotional regulation via chemistry and love, in which stupid crimes are drastically reduced. I am a person with a heavy load of executive functioning deficiencies: the amount of hurt and frustration I've completely inadvertently heaped upon my loved ones is scandalous. I have been stupid many many times. Being stupid should be a crime, but right now they often end up being a crime for many people just like me who grew up in circumstances different from my own.
Is this a Quaker view? This is how I feel about a lot of crime/wrong/sin/failings: there's very little (if any) satisfaction and justice, just grief. It's two cute foxes rescued from a forest fire and one ended up hurting the other in confusion whilst in a cage.
Despite the above: What a fantastic read. The author's contraband knowledge compiled into this piece gave me a lot of appreciation and optimism for Western justice systems.
I was a juror on a murder trial once. I always wanted to do jury duty so I was pretty excited and it didn't disappoint. I also believe its an important part of the legal process and part of being a member of our society.
This (and a few other comments) really surprised me. When we were sequestered for deliberation (about 2.5 - 3 days) we had to hand over our cell phones, had no contact with the outside, did 12 hour days, and in our off time we stayed in a hotel under guard (to prevent contact). It was kind of difficult for a few of the jurors but my job involves long periods of time without my cell phone or contact with my family, so I didn't find it too bad.
How I view surveillance was definitely changed by my experience. I've definitely always leaned towards privacy, but it opened up a deep conflict in my mind... on one hand I value the ability to move through society without being tracked and to have private communications, on the other hand a large part of my case was text message data. I believe carriers store less data now, but at the time of this murder at least one carrier stored the content of the messages, so when the police got a warrant they got EVERYTHING.
My case was really interesting but at the same time the people involved were also so stupid. We had a solid window into what happened after the murder and their life kind of deteriorating (it was already in shambles before the murder).
I often wonder, what would they have had to do to not be caught for this murder... and honestly I don't think they would have had to do too much to not get caught. THAT is a wild thought and REALLY changed how I view things.