America & World IV: Trump's Taxing Day

[Cassius_Smoke]

From East 17?

Damn right. He knows where it's at... Under the wheels of his own car...

[Blobcat]

OD'ing on Jacket potatoes and running himself over.

[Asura]

Laughing at the stuff I'm seeing on Twitter.

Biden went to some of the places affected by the tornadoes recently to meet with those who have been made homeless, promising the government will help them.

Trumpers are yelling about how he's a poser, and this is just an attempt to look sympathetic for votes.

For the record, whilst I agree that Biden's involvement with this should be judged with deeds, not token gestures, the gestures are important.

[Blobcat]

I like how Trumpers saying that Biden is a poser suggests Trump wasn't.

I swear there are several body poses I can do which anyone would perceive as an impression of Trump so...

[QualityChimp]

Ha, maybe should've thrown a few paper towels out to the people with destroyed homes.
That's what a real president would have done to solve the problem.

[Neon Ignition]

The constant barrage Biden gets is just depressing. I mean, I'm sure he's proving to be a disappointment as like most Democrat Presidents he's utterly failed to take advantage of the position, still playing by the rules that we all know don't matter anymore so getting little done, but the endless tearing into him by the media will only end one way in 2024 and they should be stupendously careful of reaping what they sew

[Asura]

The constant barrage Biden gets is just depressing. I mean, I'm sure he's proving to be a disappointment as like most Democrat Presidents he's utterly failed to take advantage of the position, still playing by the rules that we all know don't matter anymore so getting little done, but the endless tearing into him by the media will only end one way in 2024 and they should be stupendously careful of reaping what they sew

It's the media, though. Another Trump presidency is $$$ for them, even if they hate him.

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/05/ghislaine-maxwell-trial-prosecutors-judge-inquiry-juror

The lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell are calling for a retrial after one of the jurors revealed they were once sexually abused

[Brad]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...-inquiry-juror
The lawyers for Ghislaine Maxwell are calling for a retrial after one of the jurors revealed they were once sexually abused

Agreed. Half the jury should be made up of people who have been sexually abused, to provide balance.

[Anpanman]

Surprised they didn't sort that in jury selection unless the lawyers couldn't go there.

[MartyG]

Agreed. Half the jury should be made up of people who have been sexually abused, to provide balance.

No, you want a jury with none, then there is no grounds at all for an appeal. If half the jury had been abused, she'd already have been granted her retrial on grounds of prejuducial jury - it was an unanimous guilty verdict, it didn't need sympathetic jurors on behalf of the prosecution.

[Asura]

Surprised they didn't sort that in jury selection unless the lawyers couldn't go there.

Pretty sure in the American legal system, both sides have to agree to the draft of jurors (though obviously they can't object for spurious reasons).

That being said, hypothetically - and this is TOTALLY HYPOTHETICAL - if one of the jurors lied about themselves, that might disrupt things. For instance, jurors are asked if they have any racial biases, or are part of any racially biased group - so if a Klan member says "no" and later is found out, that would potentially lead to a mistrial.

[Anpanman]

Pretty sure in the American legal system, both sides have to agree to the draft of jurors (though obviously they can't object for spurious reasons).

It's completely mad in the US - bonkers, jury selection experts that cost sometimes as much a lawyers give dossiers on jurors and each side can ask questions of them.
For example in a tobacco case the plaintiffs legal team might ask if the juror smoked, of any of their family members had cancer.
Some types of women could be conceived as tighter with purse strings so won't award massive punitive damages and so on.

Jurors are given numbers at random I believe and after questions each side would then have so many peremptory strikes and use them to dismiss jurors for no reason, starting at number one, they work their way through the pool until they have the first twelve.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_selection_in_the_United_States

Runaway Jury by Grisham is well worth a read.

[MartyG]

The premise isn't a particularly bad one imo, neither side gets to pick or dismiss every juror, so ultimately it should balance itself out.

No idea if the TV series Bull is even a little bit truly representitive of how it works IRL, but now and again I enjoy the odd episode - but that's the sort of stuff fictioned on in it as you've posted about above.

[Anpanman]

I think if it was all equal then yes it may be ok but this is America and in the civil cases the large companies can afford the best jury consultants, plaintive's maybe none at all.

Then you could have a situation where a black guy is accused of raping a white churchgoing female with flimsy evidence in rural Mississippi, six blacks in the first twenty-four jurors each side has six strikes.
You end up with an all white jury.

I don't have a hard and fast opinion either way but I do think it's open to abuse.