judgement by your peers

Dwight Meredith points out that George W. Bush's stated beliefs about juries are hypocrisy incarnate:

While Governor of Texas, Mr. Bush showed an abiding faith in the unerring accuracy of jury decisions in death penalty cases. While Governor more than 130 death penalty cases came before the Governor. He granted a reprieve in exactly one case. Mr. Bush has said that he is "confident that every case that has come across my desk -- I'm confident of the guilt of the person who committed the crime."
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Mr. Bush has said that poor jury decisions are �devastating the practice of medicine� and ruining many an �honest business.�
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My experience is with civil juries. That experience convinces me that juries almost always make good decisions. I have yet to try an important civil case in which the defense lawyer slept through the trial, failed to interview witnesses or failed to present crucial evidence.

A person whose experience is only on the criminal side could feel differently. Overworked and underpaid lawyers without the resources to investigate, prepare and present a case may not give juries the information needed to make an accurate decision. That increases the likelihood of jury error.


George Bush�s blind faith in the inerrancy of death penalty juries combined with his distrust of civil juries is perverse.

Dwight has a lot more detail about the specifics of why the distinction between civil juries and death penalty juries is not only innappropriate, but actually even backwards.