Transparency of government is something that our country has valued since the beginning that is why we wanted issues aired in the public domain. Our court system was designed to be public so that people would have faith in the open fair running of that system. When our founding fathers created the system there was no such thing as cameras or cell phones but the press and the public was allowed to watch the proceedings in order to protect the people involved.
Yesterday I started jury duty and the first thing I found out about our Metro Court System is that they do not allow cameras or cell phones in the building. I cannot disagree more strongly with this policy and I strongly feel that it should be changed. I just don’t understand why anyone would want to prevent the public from viewing a public trial. I could understand if it had to do with an underage child but the Metro Court System does not handle children’s court. Transparency is import to protect the voting public’s right to open and fair justice.
I can understand the need for more security in a time when some unruly people do not respect the system but at the same time I get the feeling that the public would support the court system more strongly if they better understood how it functioned. Our state government has allowed web cameras in their halls and meeting rooms for the first time this year. The Supreme Court may very well revisit the issue with the retirement of some of the older justices in the next few years so why not our court system? Why is it a battle every time we want to put cameras in a government run system in this state? Why are the younger judges not speaking up for the advancement of technology in their own system?
I should note here that the system for jury duty is run very well and they treat their juries very respectfully which I am very pleased with at this point in time. They are very good about informing you of when you will be needed and have a website so that you can check in everyday after 3:30 to find out if you will be needed for the next day. They provide a nice space for you to wait in before you are called to a courtroom. Yesterday we were told that some of the judges might drop by if they find time just so we could meet them.
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Quotes:
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (Teddy)
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
The O'Coilean (O'Collins)
'A great host with whom it is not fortunate to contend, the battle-trooped host of the O'Coileain."
Abraham Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
From NPR Radio
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
Unknown
"Friendship is loving someone no matter what is in their past. It is accepting the fact that they are human and that they have made their share of mistakes over a life time. Trust is being able to tell your friend the most private secret knowing that they will not judge you. A life is not lived well without that one true and trusted friendship."
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
"My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"
Albert Einstein
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Will Rogers
"I don't belong to an organized party--I'm a democrat."
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat
“If by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Lora O'Brien
"All I can do is share one person's experiences on her own path, not tell you how to walk yours. If a guru is what you are looking for, find another! If I am a teacher, it is because I am already walking the path that you, Dear Reader, may wish to be on. Although each of us must make our own way, I can put up signs at least, and make the way slightly less hazardous for those who wish to walk a similar path."
C. S. Lewis
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dream shall never die."
The O'Coilean (O'Collins)
'A great host with whom it is not fortunate to contend, the battle-trooped host of the O'Coileain."
Abraham Lincoln
"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."
From NPR Radio
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk.
Martin walked so Obama could run.
Obama ran so our children can fly!"
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new."
Unknown
"Friendship is loving someone no matter what is in their past. It is accepting the fact that they are human and that they have made their share of mistakes over a life time. Trust is being able to tell your friend the most private secret knowing that they will not judge you. A life is not lived well without that one true and trusted friendship."
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones
"My job is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"
Albert Einstein
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
Will Rogers
"I don't belong to an organized party--I'm a democrat."
President John F. Kennedy, Democrat
“If by a ‘liberal’ they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people—their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties—someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad, if that is what they mean by a ‘Liberal,’ then I’m proud to say I’m a ‘Liberal.’”
Martin Luther King Jr.
"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Lora O'Brien
"All I can do is share one person's experiences on her own path, not tell you how to walk yours. If a guru is what you are looking for, find another! If I am a teacher, it is because I am already walking the path that you, Dear Reader, may wish to be on. Although each of us must make our own way, I can put up signs at least, and make the way slightly less hazardous for those who wish to walk a similar path."
C. S. Lewis
"Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."
A Female Democrat
1/1/10 A new year and a number of future elections to cover. The budget will be a major issue this year and we must work hard to protect the core values of our party.