In an area of rare agreement, I join Court Koenning's exhortation that citizens must participate in the jury system. (See: "Jurors are the key to achieving justice," Wednesday) It is a fundamental civic duty and the foundation of our judicial system.
What is troubling, however, is that Koenning's group, the self-styled Texans Against Lawsuit Abuse, and its corporate and insurance industry backers have been seeking to dismantle that very same jury system for decades.It is hypocritical of groups with an agenda designed to limit or eliminate the ability of citizen juries to weigh in when Texans are needlessly harmed to then preach jury service as a civic duty to the rest of us.The bottom line is that you either respect the jury system -- and its citizen jurors -- and believe that our founders were right when they wrote the Seventh Amendment, or you don't. Koenning and his special-interest cronies can't have it both ways.-- N. Alex Winslow, executive director, Texas Watch, AustinHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
