Good books to help me show disdain for jury system?

[goodenough]

I live in the U.S. and have been called for jury duty yet again. I want to borrow a nonfiction book or two from the library to take with me to read while I sit in the waiting room to be called for service, and also for display, should I be called to the farcical voir dire. I would like some suggestions for books whose covers will demonstrate a plausibly deniable disdain for the legal system. Something about corrupt judges -- of which we have many -- would be great!!

Last time I took "With Justice for None: Destroying an American Myth," figuring that would do the trick for sure. (And yes, I had time to read the whole book while sitting, and sitting, and sitting.) But the only person to notice was a lawyer on the elevator who wanted to get into a discussion about what a great book it is. Dammit, I came to offend, not talk to slimy lawyers!

No doubt some will be aghast at my apparent lack of social responsibility. And I'd love to discuss the matter for hours, though this is obviously not the forum for it. Suffice it to say that where I live potential jurors are disdainfully treated as if criminals, and they're called in to be used as pawns in a game of chicken (sorry about the mixed metaphor) between sides, almost always going home without getting on a jury. I've never done anything illegal in my life, and law enforcement and the judicial system have been utterly indifferent when I needed them, and I want to return the favor. I truly could go on and on...

Anyway, any good book suggestions will be gratefully appreciated.

 

[angerball]

I don't have any suggestions, but I think it's a hilarious idea.

 

[sparkchaser]

Easy:

 

[dele]

Here is a website that lists books that have been banned throughout the world and why. A few choice examples:

Did 6 Million Really Die? by Richard Harwood - Previously banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and most of mainland Europe, Germany and Austria in particular, for Holocaust denial.

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler - Possession and sale for historical reasons is legal in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Only reproduction is forbidden due to copyrights (held by Bavarian state, expiring 70 years after the death of the author: 31. December 2015).

Mirror of the Polish Crown by Sebastian Miczyński - Because this pamphlet published in 1618 was one of the causes of the anti-Jewish riots in Cracow it was banned by Sigismund III Vasa

The Peaceful Pill Handbook by Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart - Instructional manual on euthanasia... Banned in Australia for political reasons.

Suicide mode d'emploi by Claude Guillon - This book, reviewing all the accessible recipes for committing suicide, was cause of a great scandal in France in the 1970's and the subject of a law edicted in the French parliament which forbids not only this book to be sold in France but any medium giving tips or recipes on the way to kill oneself.


Some of these books should provoke interesting reactions... but I think I'd feel pretty dirty paying money to own a copy!

Let us know how the ruse works!

 

[bookworm fellow]

It’s easy to find books that express disdain for the jury system since this method of trial is unacceptable for many authors. I don’t know exactly the name of any particular author that shares this view. But if you go to the Law section of any library you may find many related works.

 

[angerball]

How about How To Avoid Jury Duty? Or 150 Reasons Why I Can't Serve on Jury Duty?

 

[goodenough]

is a website that lists books that have been banned throughout the world and why. A few choice examples:

Did 6 Million Really Die? by Richard Harwood - Previously banned in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Israel, and most of mainland Europe, Germany and Austria in particular, for Holocaust denial.

Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler - Possession and sale for historical reasons is legal in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Only reproduction is forbidden due to copyrights (held by Bavarian state, expiring 70 years after the death of the author: 31. December 2015).

Mirror of the Polish Crown by Sebastian Miczyński - Because this pamphlet published in 1618 was one of the causes of the anti-Jewish riots in Cracow it was banned by Sigismund III Vasa

The Peaceful Pill Handbook by Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart - Instructional manual on euthanasia... Banned in Australia for political reasons.

Suicide mode d'emploi by Claude Guillon - This book, reviewing all the accessible recipes for committing suicide, was cause of a great scandal in France in the 1970's and the subject of a law edicted in the French parliament which forbids not only this book to be sold in France but any medium giving tips or recipes on the way to kill oneself.


Some of these books should provoke interesting reactions... but I think I'd feel pretty dirty paying money to own a copy!

Let us know how the ruse works!

Hey, that's an excellent approach! Wish I'd thought of it. I have minor problems with the individual examples, though:

- I'd be too embarrassed to carry around a Holocaust denying book.

- I'd have same reaction to Mein Kampf, if it weren't for the fact that if I saw someone reading it I'd assume it was for the same reason I read it: to try to gain insight into Hitler's mind.

- Mirror of the Polish Crown seems too opaque. The title has to offend at a glance.

- I doubt euthanasia books are guaranteed to offend in this country (especially at a glance, doubly so if in French).


But thanks again, and I will check the site out for more possibilities.

 

[goodenough]

How about How To Avoid Jury Duty? Or Reasons Why I Can't Serve on Jury Duty

That's another good approach I hadn't thought of. It's a shame my library system doesn't carry either. (And $80 to Amazon for the first one seems awfully expensive.)

In the end I think I'll be going with two titles I borrowed from my library:

How lawyers screw their clients : and what you can do about it
The word "screw" is in an extra-large font, for which I'm grateful to the publisher. I'll make sure this cover is visible at all times.

The case against lawyers : how the lawyers, politicians, and bureaucrats have turned the law into an instrument of tyranny--and what we as citizens have to do about it
This will be, I think, the book I'll actually read while waiting to be sent home.

(BTW, a lawyer I know says the odds of someone showing up and actually getting on a jury are about 1/30. And once they find out that I was recently both the victim of a major crime and, while walking, hit by a car blasting through an intersection without looking, the odds are nil. It used to be that they'd ask you about this before making you show up to "serve." Not anymore.)

It's a shame I couldn't find any books about judicial corruption. Screen after library in the library catalog about corruption in just about every field imaginable, except, interestingly, the judiciary. Hm.

 

[dele]

I have another idea for you, but it might take some acting! My grand-father was disqualified from jury duty because of his abismal understanding of English. Fake an accent and ask for clarification on every other sentence and I'd be very surprised if you were picked!

 

[bookworm fellow]

I have another idea for you, but it might take some acting! My grand-father was disqualified from jury duty because of his abismal understanding of English. Fake an accent and ask for clarification on every other sentence and I'd be very surprised if you were picked!

lol

 

[BeerWench13]

Catcher in the Rye