I was in the “just in case we have to excuse too many people” group in a jury pool. For the most part, it was a big waste of time… sit for hours, doing nothing. (Ok, I had my iPad and worked on it. I used my phone’s Wi-Fi while I did email, then switched to an open Wi-Fi to answer questions on my websites.) Then we had to sit for hours more in the courtroom while the lawyers and judge decided who is fit to serve. Thankfully, I wasn’t needed.
Among the questions asked was who thought weed should be legal. About half of the 34 members of the pool raised their hands. She asked those in the main group why they thought it should be legal. One man said medical use as his wife is ill and he thinks it would help her more than the $1200/month prescriptions. Others mentioned taxation (tax it like alcohol) and economics (courts are not cost-free), one person mentioned hemp as a renewable resource. (I think all 10 who were dismissed raised their hands on this question. I’d control/tax weed like alcohol and tobacco.)
The prosecutor asked if the case was about possession, could we convict, since there are laws against pot possession and court is about enforcing the law. The people she asked said yes, they would uphold the law even if they didn’t agree with the law.
She didn’t ask me, as I was in the ‘just in case’ group, #32 (and they only needed 13). I would have said no, I could not convict. Marijuana might be against the law, but the law is wrong and the cops are wrong for enforcing it.
There were once laws banning interracial marriage too, but that doesn’t mean those laws were right or just either. Slavery, discrimination, voting rights… all were governed by bad laws in our history.
There are several websites that list old, stupid laws that have never been repealed, like riding a horse backwards on Sunday or some such nonsense. A cop would be laughed out of town if he tried to arrest someone for something so asinine. It should be the same with simple possession of weed.
A bad law is a bad law and no juror should be party to enforcing a bad law.
And for the record, if you are wondering if I’m a pot head… I have never smoked pot. When I was about 10 my sister and I tried one of dad’s Lucky Stripes. We each got one puff in and decided smoking was the most vile and disgusting thing.