Do you like the new jury system?

[Behind the Aegis]

62. Like others have said, I don't like not being notified.

When one votes, we know the results. When one sits on a jury, we know the results. While some of the comments got out of hand, and sometimes were worse than the post getting the alert, many provided insight into the thoughts of the juror. It is funny, because I remember a time when there was thought about making comments mandatory. Sometimes, those thoughts were bigoted, which, if anything, provided more information to the admins about certain posters. The "anonymity" of the jury worked much like wine for some people, they said things there they wouldn't dare say in the forums. In jury situs veritas.

Frankly, I think the new system also marginalizes minorities in number of ways. Transparency is important because it allows for things to be in the open and exposed for what it is, but the downside to not being able to comment is when one alerts on something bigoted, there is an expectation the jurors will know what the bigotry is; that was never my expectation except when the jury system was first introduced. After a few failed attempts, I realized I had to actually explain why something was bigoted that I just couldn't say "bigotry" and expect people to 'know,' which is exactly what this new system does. It is easy to identify some forms of bigotry, but others, often even more insidious than the more outspoken ones, can be tricky and need an explanation. Furthermore, feelings of alienation by minorities and expressions of such can now be considered violations in ways they really couldn't in the past.

While civility is always a nice goal, at what expense? To me, it is much like freedom, how much are we willing to give up in order to be considered "safe"?