I haven't voted in over 30 years.
Because I never registered to vote.
It was my understanding at the time that juries were selected from registered voters.
I knew at the tender age of 18 that I would not be qualified to, nor did I ever want to, decide the fate of another human being. The justice system, and often lack thereof, has always confounded me. In all these years I've never changed my mind.
In addition to not being smart enough or qualified to sit on ajury, I'm probably not qualified to make an intelligent decision about politics either.
However, I am smart enough to know that a helluva lot of registered voters aren't either.
Only 58% of eligible American voters actually vote. Belgium is one of the few countries where voting is compulsory. If you choose not to vote, you could be fined or even imprisoned so voter turnout is one of the highest in the world, as you might guess. Of course, it doesn't ensure the voter actually knows anything about the candidates.
In the States, lists of potential jurors are compiled randomly from various sources depending on the state and can include voter registration, DMV records, tax rolls, etc. Despite knowing this, it still never changed my mind. I suppose it's a good thing not everyone is like that.
I even fantasized that if I was ever in a voire dire situation, I would answer like Steve Martin "Death penalty for parking violations." and the assistant to the Asst. DA would say "You may be excused. Thanks for stoppin' by."
That was a joke, but I surely know it is no joking matter. I do not support the death penalty. Period. If you read on you will know one of the main reasons for that.
Did you know the death penalty is outlawed in Belgium. And Germany. And France. And the Netherlands. And Canada. And England, Spain, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Austria and about 90 other countries?
But you can still put someone to death in Afghanistan. And Pakistan. And Somalia. And Yemen. And Korea, Sudan, Iran, Iraq, the United States, and about 50 other countries.
The key is so small, but here's what is says:
No death penalty
Death penalty not applied in at least 10 years
Death penalty used only in times of war
Death penalty used against adult offenders
Used against both adult and adolescents
I occasionally watch true crime shows and when I watch one where someone has finally been freed after serving the bulk of their youth in prison, I have a hard time moving on.
Have you ever heard of The Innocence Project? What about The Innocence Network?
They are both organizations that assist in the defense of people, through DNA testing or investigative services or pro bono legal assistance, who are imprisoned and whom the organization believes have been wrongly convicted. Many of them of Death Row.
Nearly 30 years ago, we experienced an unnerving event when a car similar to ours was involved in a hit and run accident where a child was struck. In an effort to apprehend the person responsible, the State Police advised all paint body shops to notify them if anyone with a small grey car came in to have the front-end painted.
Coincidentally, we took our small grey car in for an estimate on having the front end painted because the paint had been peeling for nearly a year.
As a result of the body shop visit, the police were notified. About 2:00 a.m. one morning, the State Police came to our door and asked to interview us. Where were you on that particular day? Do you drive a small grey car?
We told them we had taken our small grey car to the body shop, but on the day in question, we were both at work. After they left we talked about what had just transpired and we suddenly remembered that we had, in fact, not been at work that day. We immediately phoned the State Police to inform them we had made a mistake.
The circumstances made it seem reasonable that we could be suspects.
We were notified within hours of our police interview that the person who actually committed the crime had turned himself in and was in custody. Furthermore, the State Policeman told us that he was sure we weren't the ones responsible since we'd called back to tell them we weren't actually at work that day. Who does that?
Someone honest. And innocent.
But this illustrates how quickly innocent people can have things go terribly wrong. What were the chances that we would not be at work on a weekday, take our small grey car, that matched the description of the vehicle involved, to a body shop for a paint estimate? One in a million?
If you think it can't happen to you, you are simply wrong.
I hope, if, unlike me, you're a registered voter, before you head to the polls, you educate yourself on the candidates as opposed to believing everything you hear in the media. This may come as a surprise to some, but everything reported on the news is not necessarily fact and often isn't even close.
I also hope, if you hear or read in the media that someone has been accused, perhaps the first thing you could think is the possibility, maybe even the likelihood, that they are innocent.
And if you ever sit on a jury, perhaps you should dust off your law degree because you will need it. Even the experts, scientists, lawyers, and police together often get it wrong. It simply isn't enough to just be impartial. You need to know what you're doing.
The Innocence Project has helped exonerate 271 innocent people who each spent an average of 13 years in prison.
Imagine for a moment . . . your son, who's never given you a moment's trouble, graduating from high school, excited about entering college, getting arrested and imprisoned for something he had nothing to do with, spending your last dime trying to prove it, having the life sucked right out of you, never again having a good night's sleep, and best-case-scenario, The Innocence Project or The Innocence Network takes his case.
He just might have a chance to walk out a free man when he's 30. Or he may not. And he was innocent all the time. If you think something like this couldn't happen to you, you are simply wrong.
The U.S. Death Penalty Information Center has published a list of 8 inmates "executed but possibly innocent" and at least 39 executions are claimed to have been carried out in the U.S. in the face of evidence of innocence or serious doubt about guilt. Does that make you shudder?
In addition to helping exonerate innocent prisoners, these organizations are also trying to reform the criminal justice system to prevent further injustice.
