From an old garage in a rural midwestern town -

Thank you to Jane and Christy and Marcy and all the gang committed to working on this at FDL! I am at a loss for words to describe how good it feels again to be an American. The technology that allows this coverage is heartening – the people making it work are true patriots.

Yes! This is the time when the Net gave the power of the press back to Everyman. It’s taken a long time: I’d go back to Hearst.

annx @ 88
(snip)

Or they may be just be asking these questions to torture us.

Ding!

This jury is stupid. Reasonsable doubt is not a hard concept. That question is ridiculous. They are focusing way too much on minutiae and the judge seems likes he’s not going to do anything about it. He needs to call them in and give them a talking to. This isn’t rocket science. Maybe they all have jobs that pay them full wage during jury service and want to stretch out this cushy gov’t gig as long as possible.

I don’t think this is the whole jury or there wouldn’t be any question. My gut says it is *one* person, two at the most, who is not accepting the consensus view. They are arguing this point stubbornly and the foreman has written this question to get the judge to verify the consensus view. And if the question looks like it has been written by a committee — well, it has! The juror is probably *not* the mathemetician — they are well aware that the non-mathematical world is horribly untidy. More likely it is someone who has not had to deal with uncertainty in their life — I’d bet on the Bible guy (my personal prejudice).

It warms my soul to see Fitz so on top of the details!

It warms my soul to see Fitz ;)

Christy Hardin Smith @ 111

You know, my granny read the bible every day and she was a staunch democrat. Don’t allow the religious right’s PR department to rule your understanding of religion. I’m just saying…

Okay – point well taken. But was it the ONLY thing she read?

Isn’t the state of affairs regarding religion very sad? For years I was a pretty involved Episcopalian but I’ve really been struggling with my whole belief system after the way Bush, Falwell, Dobson have perverted what it means to be a Christian.

By the way, there’s a great article in the March 2nd New York Times Sunday Magazine titled “God has always been a puzzle”

The Bible reading only person could be one of the African American women. I live in NYC and I know the type well, they ride the subway to work every mornin with well worn bibles, and there is no way any of them are wingnuts. They also wear gorgeous hats on Sundays.

Fitz: these do relate to convesations with Cooper. I could walk you though it. March 5, page 184, we suggested line 23, what did you tell Matthew Cooper. It’s a description of the Matthew Cooper conversation.

It warms my soul to see Fitz so on top of the details!

You know, my granny read the bible every day and she was a staunch democrat. Don’t allow the religious right’s PR department to rule your understanding of religion. I’m just saying…

Okay – point well taken. But was it the ONLY thing she read?

Isn’t the state of affairs regarding religion very sad? For years I was a pretty involved Episcopalian but I’ve really been struggling with my whole belief system after the way Bush, Falwell, Dobson have perverted what it means to be a Christian.

By the way, there’s a great article in the March 2nd New York Times Sunday Magazine titled “God has always been a puzzle”

hychka at 94 — I was in Park Annex, and an American Studies and Gov major. I knew a couple of Stacey’s, but I don’t remember if either lived in Tyler. Small world!

Clark House, that decrepit old thing next to fawncy Dewey – used to have to scrape frost off the inside wall of my room in winter. but we were a merry band. Once kept my pet Mourning Dove in my room for several months – the ” house mother” lived at Dewey, so we had rather loose reins, as it were. Clark lore included the time she strolled thru on a surprise checkup inspection, & made mention of “the beautiful cooing of a dove on the roof” – heh. Another time, convinced zool. prof. to let me “borrow” his demo wild ‘possum to keep for awhile in a cage. now don’t tell….sh-h-h-h…
and you fancy uptown Tyler folk thot you were havin’ a wild time….

[apologies. back to lurking]

From wiki:

Usually, reasonable doubt is defined as “any doubt which would make a reasonable person hesitate in the most important of his or her affairs.”

A couple of people here alluded to a juror that claims to “only read the bible.” Is it true that somone on the jury said this when questioned in the pool? If so, why didn’t Fitz use a pre-emptive challenge and get this person out of the pool?

(Don’t want to sound anti-religious, but it’s one thing to include the bible as one of many books that you read. It’s a wingnutty thing to read “only the bible.” I apologize in advance if I have offended anyone here.)

Some people just aren’t readers. I do agree though that to admit to just reading the bible in this day and age makes my antenae twitch. It could be that this person is the lone holdout but even biblethumpers can be made to see reason.