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Trial by jury
was established in the Constitution. It
relies on the integrity of each member of the jury and upon the
integrity of the twelve jurors acting as one. Each juror and the
jury body must use intellect, judgment, intrinsic integrity, and
clear away all preconceived ideas and biases.
< Sonja Chambers, jury foreperson |
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Former Illinois Governor George
Ryan, 72, and his co-defendant were convicted on all charges
following a several-month trial. Charges included mail fraud,
racketeering, tax fraud, making false statements to investigators,
and filing false income tax returns. |
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These defendants may or may not
have been guilty of any or all of the charges. They deserve a fair
trial. |
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Sonja
Chambers,
foreperson of the jury
that convicted former Governor Ryan and his co-defendant on all
charges, failed to honestly disclose her personal background.
She lied on the sworn jury questionnaire.
Chambers has sought orders of
protection and been involved in civil legal
proceedings. |
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Foreperson
Chambers has a history in
civil courts in two Illinois counties
and has filed orders of protection. However, she checked
"no" on her
jury questionnaire
regarding her having ever been involved in any lawsuit or
court proceeding as a plaintiff, defendant, victim or witness.
However, court records show she has
appeared in court or had involvement in
court proceedings on various occasions. |
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court records indicate
Chambers sought an order of protection against another man in
1998. Another County's
records indicate she filed an order of
protection in 2001, against her estranged husband.
In December of 2001, police were summoned
to her home regarding a domestic
violence situation. Chambers claimed her
husband had kicked in a door and punched
her in the face. According
to the police report,
officers found no evidence supporting
her claims. |
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Chambers'
estranged husband was arrested outside Chambers' home on a warrant
in October, 2004,
for failing to appear in court, the couple is in
the midst of a divorce, and her husband is seeking custody of their child
and support for the child and himself. Chambers checked "no" on the
questionnaire when asked if she, a spouse or significant
other had ever been personally interested in the outcome of a
criminal case. |
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District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer was made aware
of some of Chambers' past. Ryan's
lawyers tried twice to
remove her during the trial. Judge
Pallmeyer refused. However, failure to
disclose prior court matters caused two other
jurors dismissals from the jury. |
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When
asked, other jurors indicated that
they unanimously selected Sonja Chambers
as their foreperson because she carried
herself professionally and was a fair person.
This raises obvious questions about the other jurors, including, 1.) Did they know
her before meeting her in the courtroom? 2.) How do they evaluate people
on professionalism and fairness? 3.) Were the other jurors qualified to
sit on any several-month-long trial jury where understanding,
assimilating, analyzing, using integrity and drawing conclusions is
critical? |
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Today anyone
could be accused of and charged with misdemeanors and felonies by anyone
else for many
wildly, but imaginable reasons including envy, revenge, and anger.
Those charged would need a fair trial. In today's broken down jury
system, any of us might possibly be a victim of
injustice. We need a professional jury system. A professional jury
system would
consist of trustworthy, prepared jurors who had been vetted and
would be paid
appropriately. |
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Civilized people in today's
complex, litigious culture cannot afford to benignly
accept our damaged jury system as being available and fair if we
should need it. Our jury system lacks integrity and draws form a
polluted pool. |
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