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Imagine commissioning the 2017 @DavidLammy Review (see extract) that:- Highlighted racial inequality at every stage of criminal justice EXCEPT jury verdicts;
- Made 37 recommendations
Then instead of implementing any of those, deciding to reduce the use of juries...
Imagine instead starving the system of cash until buildings fall down & courts had to reduce capacity because they couldn't pay staff and judges, creating a 39000 case backlog pre-lockdown and then... https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/01/01/40-per-cent-crown-courts-stand-idle-crime-rises-new-figures/
Imagine then having the gall to use the pandemic that's killing black and brown people at a higher rate than their white counterparts as an excuse to get rid of jury trials? https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/legislation-to-abolish-some-jury-trials-could-be-passed-within-weeks/5104739.article
If the government had any interest in clearing the backlog in a fair way, off the top of my head I can think of things it could do...
Open new court buildingsHeavily recruit judges from the top of our profession. Stop clogging up courts with minor drugs, theft and criminal damage casesDivert addicts, youths, people with mental health issues & other vulnerabilities away from court
Don't let them fool you. Either way offences are serious matters. Any criminal conviction can cause you to lose your job, home, ability to travel, to vote, not to mention the effect on your relationships. That's why there is an option to have a jury trial for certain offences
Also see @Joanna__Hardy's thread on the complete lack of diversity in the judiciary https://twitter.com/Joanna__Hardy/status/1275164340639993856?s=19
See @BarristerSecret's thread on why these proposals are appalling and disingenuous https://twitter.com/BarristerSecret/status/1275357343019040768?s=19
See also @MaxJLHardy thread on why juries are important. https://twitter.com/MaxJLHardy/status/1275496952369688578?s=19
See also @SarahVAtDSC thread here: https://twitter.com/SarahVAtDSC/status/1274709853391503360?s=19 (it's almost like the profession is really passionate about jury trials, eh?)
