I have jury service that week. coincidence or conspiracy? dp #16
If you have never pledged your allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, you can serve as juror w/ clean conscience.
BUT !!
If you have, then an ethical person couldn't.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
After the defense rests, but before deliberations, the judge "charges" the jury; issues instructions on how to deliberate; what "reasonable doubt" means, etc.
And generally U.S. law judges do not endorse jury nullification; meaning juries refusing to enforce the letter of the law if to do so would result in an injustice.
Jurors take an oath of fidelity to law, before they deliberate.
BUT !!
The pledge of allegiance is a prior obligation.
What's the difference between a "pledge" and an "oath"?
pledge (plèj) noun
A solemn binding promise *
88888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888
oath (oth) noun
plural oaths (othz, oths)
A solemn, formal declaration or promise *
Not only would I be willing to disclose this potential conflict to the law judge. I have done so, disemploying myself in the process.
I don't know what the statistically quantified risk is that there'd be a conflict between these two potentially contradictory binding promises. But who can guarantee that there won't be one.
If United States governments want jurors to fulfill their citizenship duties as charged by law judges, then they should stop coercing U.S. children from taking this pledge.
Until they do; citizens that have taken the pledge have a "binding" prior commitment.
* Excerpted from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Electronic version licensed from INSO Corporation; further reproduction and distribution in accordance with the Copyright Law of the United States. All rights reserved.
