Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

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arpgme
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Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by arpgme »

A gay New Yorker was excused jury service when he told the judge that his “second-class citizen” status meant he could not be impartial.

Gay actor Jonathan Lovitz wrote on his Facebook page, “Just had an intense day at jury duty... we were asked who would not be impartial. I raised my hand...”

”I never intended to be an activist,” he later told MSNBC’s News Nation. ”I’m just a young gay man who saw some inequality in the state, in the country.”

To the judge, Lovitz had cited his inability to marry a man or adopt a child in New York as the basis for his action, though a 365 Gay blogger has pointed out he’s wrong on the adoption point.

Others have taken the same stand as Lovitz. WNYC reporter Beth Fertig says that at jury duty in Manhattan, she heard two similar statements to the judge by potential jurors who said they were gay and couldn’t be impartial because they were denied rights such as marriage. Both were excused from the case.
- Link

What do you think? Do you think that being gay should be an excuse from jury duty since gay people are still seen as a second class citizen in this society? What do you think about this article?
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by JBRaven »

WHy not? You are suppose to be judged by your peers and as it stands in America the GLBT community are less than human. Where black men or women allowed to be on a jury when not allowed to vote? no. If America is going to treat them as less than then they should not be made to do civic duties.
arpgme
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by arpgme »

JBRaven wrote:WHy not? You are suppose to be judged by your peers and as it stands in America the GLBT community are less than human. Where black men or women allowed to be on a jury when not allowed to vote? no. If America is going to treat them as less than then they should not be made to do civic duties.
It's sad that you have to compare the struggles of the gays with the struggles of black men and women. That really shows that our society/government has the same mindset as back then...

After there are equal gay rights there will probably be something else to make fun of or to oppress. :(
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Oh, therapy, can you please fill the void?
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PaganOne

Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by PaganOne »

JBRaven wrote:WHy not? You are suppose to be judged by your peers and as it stands in America the GLBT community are less than human. Where black men or women allowed to be on a jury when not allowed to vote? no. If America is going to treat them as less than then they should not be made to do civic duties.
I understand the man wanting to take a stand for what he believes in. I just hope people don't use being gay as an excuse to get out of jury duty or other civic duties simply because they do not wish to serve or be involved. I was called for jury selection two weeks ago. Everyone kept giving me tips on how to get out of jury duty. I wanted to serve but wasn't selected as most all the cases were settled out of court. I'm hoping for another opportunity to serve.
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by AutumnMaidens »

Homosexuals are not allowed to donate blood and their is no reason why not seeing as testing time as been cut down from months to a couple of weeks, blatend misconduct yet it's been going on for years. Why should this be any different?
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by magus »

Until we stop making ourselves the victims we will never succeed in anything of equal rights. When you make yourself the victim you are allowing other people to demean you. Though I'm not saying that even if you don't act as the victim you will stop being treated unfairly I am saying that it's a step in the right direction.
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by JBRaven »

I don't think acting like a victim is the same for demanding equality. Being a victim is saying I can't, fighting is saying I won't.
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magus
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by magus »

Well then put it this way, do you ever think that to actually be treated equal you have to act as though your equal (whether you are or not). Meaning not excusing yourself from civil duties like jury duty.
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arpgme
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by arpgme »

magus wrote:Well then put it this way, do you ever think that to actually be treated equal you have to act as though your equal (whether you are or not). Meaning not excusing yourself from civil duties like jury duty.
That's true. You have to act as though you equal, that being said, if the law is stupid enough to say that you aren't equal and that you don't have to do jury duty if you are a second class citizen or whatever, might as well take advantage of the situation.


There are many things that people shouldn't or should be doing, and even though they know that they are an important individual they take advantage of dumb laws such as this one.
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magus
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by magus »

True, but the law doesn't say that you're excuse from jury duty. In time states will come around to allowing gay marriage (thank your dieties). Then, the victim act should drop, no questions asked.
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valerian moon
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Re: Judge excuses gay man from jury duty

Post by valerian moon »

"though a 365 Gay blogger has pointed out he’s wrong on the adoption point."

true, gays CAN adopt, but MAY they adopt?
what i'm trying to say is how difficult would it be for a gay couple to adopt a child?
I mean, unless they pull an American horror story........
but ghosts stealing a demon baby from a dying woman isn't very ethical.
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