court room silliness
The first was about a jury that had asked for a dictionary to look up the definition of a word related to the case. The judge denied the request. As I recall, he said it was because juries aren't allowed to do their own research.
How absurd can you get?
If the jury doesn't understand a term, how are they supposed to make a decision related to it?
If I asked the judge whether I should invest in some degree shimmy hop and whether that would help me work faster, how could he possibly make a decision?
There's no issue of "doing research", it's simply a matter of whether the question is understandable.
You cannot make correct decisions about those things you don't understand -- and it is not possible to understand things when the words that are used are not understood.
Isn't that obvious?
btw, re-arrange "degree shimmy hop" and you get "high speed memory."
Interesting! With the term understood, it is actually possible to have judgment in relationship to an issue about which judgment was not previously possible.
The fact that the question is now understandable does NOT by itself mean the judge would be able to answer the question. He may or may not have sufficient data about the memory or the kind of work I do to make a judgment -- but he would now be in a position to have a chance of making a judgment.
Understanding may be a prerequisite to judgment but it is not by itself the same thing.
To deny the jury the prerequisite understanding is to essentially say "spin the wheel or throw a dart -- we're not interested in real judgment here, only arbitrariness."
I was kind of hoping the jury would come back and say "sorry, we can't make a decision about things we don't understand" and make it the judge's problem.
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