Recently I was part of a jury selection process. Though I didn’t end up on the jury, at one point we were talking about what ‘reasonable doubt’ means and I want to comment publicly on that. I tried to put a percentage on the notions of certainty and doubt, and in hindsight I want to say my numbers were way off. I knew 51/49 was not reasonable but maybe 75/25 would be acceptable. We Americans participating in a democratic activity such as jury duty have someone’s life in our hands, maybe even literally, but literally or not, we have a big responsibility and we need to be quite certain that we’re giving the defendant, the legal process being played out right in front of us, and the law a truly fair chance. All three of these elements are exposed to us at court and they have to be properly aligned. No longer will I try to put a percentage on what reasonable doubt means but I now know how important it is to pay attention and get this right. It seems to me that before we can decide about a defendant, we have to agree that the broken law is a just law. I’ve never thought about all this before. I’m also noting that voting is the other quintessentially democratic activity we in this country get to do regularly. Let’s bring the full consciousness of our minds and hearts to that process when it comes up next year.
Evelyna Vignola