Public: Legal system
Censored Trials by Jury   (+2, -1)  [vote for, against]
Jury watches a videotape of the trial with the controversial parts removed

"Isn't it true that you MURDERED the defendant?"
"--Objection, Your Honor"
"Objection sustained. The jury will disregard that question".

Fair enough, except it must be very difficult for juries to actually do that. Attorneys know this, so they purposefully say controversial things like this and then say "Question withdrawn", knowing that they have still made some impact on the jury.

I propose that juries need not be present in the actual courtroom during a trial. It's wasteful. I was on a jury for 7 full days and only about 16 hours were actually "the trial". The rest was recesses, lunch, waiting for the other parties to get there, etc. I got lots of reading done but what about people who have to work?

Instead, the judge should hold the trial himself and review and delete all the controversial parts, and the jurors come together at a later date to watch the video in high-definition, with individual cameras pointing to all the relevant parties (defendant; plaintiff; witness).

This way, the jury can watch the whole trial more quickly and be presented with "Just the facts". They can also instantly rewind anything they didn't hear clearly the first time.

Thank you.
-- phundug, May 31 2011

//MURDERED the defendant// - who's on trial here?
And when we're done putting the lawyers up against the wall, where do we bury the survivors?
-- lurch, May 31 2011


There won't be any. Kill 'em all ! Spare not even the children, lest the Evil persist.
-- 8th of 7, May 31 2011


I don't think the lawyers would like it - they'd be unable to get any feedback. "Does the jury understand the point I just made? Are they bored? Are they giggling at me because I just did something I don't realize?"
-- lurch, May 31 2011


[lurch] - I never thought of that: Lawyers can no longer hire analysts to scan the faces of the jurors to determine how they are going to vote. Another advantage!
-- phundug, May 31 2011


Welcome to Roman-Dutch law, please enjoy your stay...
-- 4whom, May 31 2011


Video-feed is an imperfect method of communication, just as email and certain web forums. The truly skilled lawyers will be the best actors, which is a different skill-set than the theatrics employed by the live stage show. Neutral. I do think that the psychology of the stricken question is bad ethic and should be fought somehow, but I am not certain how to do so.
-- RayfordSteele, May 31 2011



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