Word: adler
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...Rachel Adler, a volunteer at Revolution Books and a supporter of the Revolutionary Communist Party, distinguishes her views from the "mainstream" socialism that Feltman supports...
...create a larger pool of qualified jurors, Adler also argues that legislatures should eliminate most automatic exemptions for such professions as doctors and clergy, which allow some of the best educated members of the community to escape service. The disadvantages of a narrow jury pool that has been worked upon by lawyers determined to seat the least qualified members is evident from Adler's account of the trial of Imelda Marcos, the wife of deposed Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos. In 1990 she faced charges in a New York City court of transferring Philippine government money to American banks to finance...
...jury ill-equipped to make its way through the complicated financial transactions the case hinged upon. "The net effect on many jurors was panic at their inability to follow the money," writes Adler, who later interviewed the jurors. Unable to sift the complex evidence, they fell back on sheer sympathy for Imelda, who courted it with gusto. Dressed in black, clutching her rosaries, she could be seen at the defense table wiping back tears. Acquitted, Imelda threw a thank-you party for the jurors with roast pig and a belly dancer. She sang Feelings...
...help jurors understand their work, Adler suggests changing rules that bar them from taking a more active part in trial proceedings. For instance, while no law forbids them to take notes, most judges disallow it. Adler would also permit jurors to ask questions, perhaps by submitting them in writing through the judge, who could decide which ones to address to witnesses. Judges should also issue jury instructions at the start of trial, he says, not the end, so jurors will know what to watch for. And he urges simpler instructions, so jurors aren't confounded by legalese...
...pileup of confusions that those reforms might clear away is obvious from Adler's description of the 1989 lawsuit that Liggett & Myers, the giant tobacco company, brought against Brown & Williamson, a rival that Liggett accused of unfair competition. After an eight-month trial that hinged on notions like "predatory price discrimination" and "price-value submarkets," jurors had to rely on memory alone to recall testimony that filled 108 volumes. The judge's 81-page instructions gave them such helpful hints as this one: "You may wish to reject an inference of predatory intent if you find that a substantial motivation...