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Gordon Becker and Dan L. are now friends

Jun 22

Gordon Becker left a comment for Dan L. Jun 21

Dan L. replied to the discussion Legislative exempting themselves from any laws Jun 21

Tell everyone a little bit about yourself: I'm 69 years old, a retired teacher from Washington state, and have lived in Hawai‘i since 2000. I've been active in politics for decades, and am very much interested in making government work for the people, rather than for itself or big-money interests.

At 6:58am on June 22nd, 2008, Dan L. said…: I'm not so sure about juries judging law. I think that is the province of judges.

The original purpose of trial by jury was to give the people the right to a fair trial, which could not be assured if guilt or innocence was determined by a government appointee, i. e. a judge. The "jury of one's peers" was supposed to guarantee that people who understood the conditions under which people lived, and thus were supposedly more capable of determining who was telling the truth, etc., made the determinations of guilt or innocence. No special expertise is needed to determine facts.

But knowledge of the law is a specialized field. One has to have about seven years of college to become a lawyer, and considerable practical experience beyond that to be a judge. Determination of the precise meaning of a statute, or deciding if this wording is within the purview of the legislature according to the constitution, are not to be found in the common sense of daily living, which is what a jury is supposed to be conversant in.

I do not want 12 ordinary people deciding what medical procedure is right for me. I do not want a panel of untrained citizens designing the bridge I'm going to drive on. In the same way, I do not want lay people determining the meaning of the laws or constitution I live under.

At 12:42pm on June 21st, 2008, Gordon Becker said…: Dan L
Your comments about Referendum and Recall deserve more consideration. I would like to add them to the Hawaii Constitution (along with the addition that juries be instructed about their constitutional rights to judge the law as well as the facts)

At 10:21pm on May 19th, 2008, Peter Kay said…: I really appreciate the thoughtful posts you are making. They are REALLY GOOD. Mahalo!

At 7:41am on May 11th, 2008, Peter Kay said…: Thank you Dan for joining and I'm really happy to see you're jumping right into it!

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