Denali

This link may shed some light on this discussion. http://www.fija.org/ I have always accecpted the idea of the fully informed juror - and have been dismissed as a juror on two occasions because of it. The funny part is that I had no qualms about the particular law in question in either case. The system just doesn't want informed jurors around. Best wishes.

This is a reply I posted on another forum some time ago in response to the cries of "Ever heard of Sweden," from the wannabe socialists in the USA: Wannabe socialists have iconically posted “Ever heard of Sweden?” as intellectual ammunition for their socialist political/economic assertions in regards to the future of the United States. They pose the question and thereby assume a high (albeit unearned) moral tenor to deflect criticism of their political/economic assertions. “Ever heard of Sweden?” implies that Swedes live in a blissful state of utopian socialism, free of the evils of capitalism, from whence they escaped using some scientific recombination of Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. “It follows,” the wannabe socialists imply, “that if the United States would simply follow the same scientific mix of political/economic philosophy that we too could escape evil capitalism and find refuge in socialist utopian bliss.” The wannabe socialists choose simply to ignore reality. They ignore the reality of Swedish history. They ignore the reality of U. S. history. They consider histories as mere “social constructs,” malleable to their needs. The wannabe socialists ignore physical differences between the two nations. They ignore the differences in population demographics. They ignore philosophical differences between the two peoples. Wannabe socialists consider human beings interchangeable units. Sweden, like the rest of Europe, emerged into the renaissance world from centuries of war, anarchy, monarchy (benign and despotic), and feudalism. Enlightenment thinking pushed the Swedes, and the rest of Europe, in a philosophical direction towards the ideals of the “free man,” and the “rights of the free man;” towards the ideals – not to the ideals. A man could be “free” yet still subject to the often-arbitrary authority of the nobleman, the state. The “rights of the free man” were often “duties” imposed on the state regarding the welfare of the “free man.” Thus Sweden came of age as a modern nation moving towards the ideal of the “free man,” or as he came to be known in the new world, the “individual.” The United States came into being and became a modern nation on a wholly different ideal. American intellectuals, from their position in these far away colonial entities, were able to see the shortcomings of European ideas of “ free - yet subject to.” Somehow they mustered the know how and the strength to forcibly break away from political domination and to some lesser degree, intellectual domination. They proposed a radical new concept in government; a government subject to law and to the governed. The idea was that government was instituted for the protection of the natural rights of the individual. “Government has no inherent ‘right’ to exist,” they proclaimed. Government had no rights at all, only obligations to protect individual rights. It has been said that America’s founders were doers, men of action, more so than intellectuals. As such they failed to develop a comprehensive philosophy as support for moral underpinnings of their creation. Americans, by default, absorbed European philosophy; the philosophy and the morality of Kant’s altruism. The inherent conflict between the founders ideals of limited government, created for protection of individual rights, and the self-sacrificial ideals of Kant’s altruistic morality came to the fore, and the political battle to determine the role of government in American’s lives was engaged. The physical differences between the U. S. and Sweden are enormous. Sweden approaches 500,000 square kilometers of area, the United States nearly 10,000,000. Sweden’s population is some over 8,000,000 people, about the population of New York City. The U. S. approaches 280,000,000 individuals. The U.S. has a higher population growth rate, both in births per 1000, and immigration rates. Our racial/ethnic demographic makeup is much more complex than Sweden. Our government’s official demographic policy is one of balkanization, encouraging distinct ethnicities, and religious groupings to form and become politically active. We are no longer a melting pot. Sweden is 94% Evangelical Lutheran. The point is that Sweden is a much more homogenous country – both racially and religiously/philosophically. They approach their socialism openly and honestly as part of a journey from what was to what will be. Recent political events in Sweden suggest that Swedes are still engaged in the eternal struggle to find the “individual.” In no way, by no stretch of the imagination are Swedes standing still in the socialist utopian bliss. Much of their current prosperity is due to political/economic shifts towards laissez- faire capitalism; privatization of industry and removal of minimum wage laws. Again I stress “towards these ideals – not yet to them.” They understand this is progress. American wannabe socialists are not open and honest. They do not proclaim that they are Socialists. Instead they proclaim that they are liberals, or moderates, or greens, or feminists, or conservatives, and full of nothing but good intentions, and righteous indignation at the miserable lot of the most prosperous, the freest and the most generous people the world has ever known. The wannabe socialists use every form of envy known to breed hate among people: black against white, rich against poor, young against old, men against women, children against their parents. The wannabe socialists seek to turn the United States away from its history, away from its heritage as, “…in its founding principles, the only moral nation ever created.” The wannabe socialists would have us regress to some mythical economic/political reality that never existed anywhere, anytime. They choose to ignore the reality that the American economic system has raised more people up out of poverty than all other economic systems in the history of the world combined. They choose to ignore that people come to this country from every conceivable social and economic condition. All they ask for is the freedom to be whatever they can be – to the best of their ability, ambition and desires. Liberty is what they seek – they are fleeing from every form of collectivism known to man. So all you wannabe socialists, keep up the vindictiveness, keep your heads in the sand, and continue to ignore reality. Perhaps you will succeed. I hope not – it would be so terrible for all humanity if the principles upon which this nation was founded were lost. But please – no more “Ever heard of Sweden?” Enough already. It doesn’t fly. Hope it'll help you find a direction to go. Best wishes, Denali