Posted on 07/29/2013 4:17:11 PM PDT by Libloather
WASHINGTON — Last month’s Supreme Court rulings on same-sex marriage were major gay rights victories. But countless questions about the legal rights of gay men and lesbians remain.
Here’s one: May gays be excluded from juries on account of their sexual orientation? The federal appeals court in California will soon decide the issue, which turns out to be surprisingly knotty.
It arose at the 2011 trial of an antitrust fight between two giant drug companies. After a potential juror appeared to reveal that he was gay, a lawyer for Abbott Laboratories used a peremptory strike — one that does not require a reason — to eliminate him from the jury pool.
An opposing lawyer objected, saying the juror “is or appears to be, could be, homosexual.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
A peremptory strike doesn't require a reason. They can cut someone because they don't like the cut of his jib. They don't have to explain it.
Or not for that mater...
Check with Odungo, who checks with Holder, who checks with the IRS, who checks with the IRS new hire, who doesn't need a background check and has a few convictions for extortion and blackmail
I usually wear a Tu Tu and a pancake on my head and carry a copy of Don Quixote when called,
Its only failed once...
These days, there is likely to be video.
This will be decided that being a homosexual is not a valid reason to be excluded from a jury if for no other reason than a huge number of potential jury candidates will suddenly become gay to get out of jury duty.
So, given that case law, if homosexuality could be treated as a protected class of people, then, yes, it might be improper to strike a juror for that reason alone.
Of course, a good lawyer has thought of some other reason why they are using their peremptory when questioned about it. It would be tougher to do if there were 4 minorities on the panel and you struck each one. With one or two, it's easier to get away with. Not that I've ever had to deal with, my cases have not been of the kind that it mattered to me.
That reminds me of the scene in A Clockwork Orange when Alex is being processed for prison by the guard.
"Are you, or have you ever been, a homosexual?"
I bet nobody thought anything of this in 1971, but nowadays there'd be protests.
Mr. Kubrick what do you MEAN by "ever being a homosexual"?
Are you a hater who doesn't KNOW that homosexuals can NEVER under any circumstances change or not be homosexual?
There is no such thing as a homosexual or a heterosexual person. There are only homo -- or heterosexual acts.
-Gore Vidal.
A person can be struck from a jury for any reason without explanation. So screw the court.
Hey, they’re allowed on the SCOTUS
I’m entitled to a jury of my *peers*.Perverts,criminals and mental defectives (among others) do not qualify as “peers”.
for a normal person, a gay is not a peer. they do not relate to others the way normal people relate to others.
Why do we allow peremptory challenges, anyway? The judge should ask the first potential juror, do you know the parties involved here? No? Congratulations, you’re juror number one. Repeat until twelve.
Shorter trials, diversity in the jury, less people called for jury duty, more qualified jurors.
EXACTLY. Where is the evidence that there is a 'gay' species? LMAO! Why are courts taking it as fact that there is such a group being oppressed?
The 'gay' people science is no where near as half assed as the 'global warming' science is YET people continue to just accept the 'gay' people dogma as fact. The fact that there was a don't ask don't tell policy should have sealed the deal long ago on this canard.
Homosexual is a leftist construct that has to do with subjective feelings regarding certain forms of disordered recreational sex. It has nothing to do objectively with a state of being.
Well, I'm certain virtually everyone is born either male or female (except for hemaphrodites) with a complete set of genes, hormones, sensibilities and free will.
It's sometime after that, due to their childhood environment, they either develop normally, or become a perverted child molester, axe-murderer, or democRAT.
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