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Why do Western countries have jury duty? (multiverse.soulism.net)
submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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All nations within the Anglosphere (US, UK, CA, AU & NZ) have JD imposed towards citizens. I know that the US & Canada both inherited that from Britain, which explains why they have it. However, should it be entirely only the judge making the conviction (some countries operate on a lay-judge system meaning juries aren't used, such as Finland or Japan for example) rather than leaving that decision up to jurors?

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[–] 1 point 13 hours ago

To be fair, they are not making the law, nor are they making the punishment. They are only determining guilt. If that requires education, then it's the courts job to do so during the trial so the jury can make an informed choice. And in the most extreme cases, all the jurors must come to a consensus - meaning that as a whole, the outcome is beyond reasonable doubt regardless of who is in the jury.

To do any less means to give certain individuals more power. And we have special cases for that too, as not everything requires a jury. So unless you're willing to give up all power, this should be a sufficient balance of power.

Jury duty still sucks though.

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