and the second quote: while there is a lower class, i am in it, while there is a criminal element, i am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, i am not free. side note on jury size: now the jury consisting of only six jurors was a complete shock to me. everything ive ever seen has always depicted 12. but having only six really lowers the burden for the government when trying to obtain a conviction. for conviction or acquittal in a criminal case, the verdict needs to be unanimous. its a lot easier to convince six people to agree on something rather than 12. i would argue this benefits the government more than the defendant because if the jury cannot come to a unanimous decision, the judge declares a mistrial and the prosecuting attorney must decide whether or not to continue the case for a retrial. so, with 12 people, a mistrial is more common, which is usually beneficial to the defendant. i do not feel a six person jury is just.
United States