I was called for jury duty yesterday--consternation ensued

[BruceW]

167. Not sure I agree with the original post

I was called for jury duty yesterday--consternation ensued
I was chosen with about 50 other people for the first jury selection. The crime was possession of "cocaine" and possession with intent to sell of "cocaine." The defendant was a little old black man whose OCD and misery were obvious.

The judge (asked who) he might need to disqualify and i raised my hand (..) and I said, "Your honor, It's my belief that the drug laws in this country are wrong, and the penalties fall unequally on minorities. I would be compelled to release this gentleman immediately, perhaps to a healthcare facility."

I am puzzled your text, librechik.

Some of my issues:

1- do you know what cocaine does to the body? IF intent to sell cocaine could be proved, it's a horrible offense. You do not know if he was innocent of that because you did not participate in the jury.

2- the statement "the penalties fall unequally on minorities." was needlessly introducing a racial element in the judgment. IRL, the penalties fall unequally on lower income groups, the race causality being much less than income. An educated and rich black guy is much, much less likely to sell cocaine than a poor uneducated white.

3- let's assume it was just possession, you reduced the defendant chances to get a lenient verdict because you know you would have displayed empathy, something not garanteed from the person who replaced you as juror.

The real underlying problem is the tendency to use bloated prisons as a substitute for a larger, possibly more costly, health care system.

3- the statement "the penalties fall unequally on minorities." was needlessly introducing a racial element in the judgment. IRL, the penalties fall unequally on lower income groups, the race causality being much less than income. An educated and rich black guy is much, much less likely to sell cocaine than a poor uneducated white.