For reasons no one should have to explain, both federal and state laws protect the anonymity of jurors. Monday morning on CNN, though, anchor Carol Costello said, “I understand [the jury’s desire to remain anonymous] during trial, but after the trial when everything is over — we live in a transparent society, should jurors remain anonymous?” This, as the chyron screamed (see above) about the “countless questions” that remain unanswered.
According to one of the segment’s guests, the media have already filed suit to learn the names of the jurors. Currently, according to Costello, the media are under court order not to disclose the names of the jurors.
The pressure CNN is putting on the six female jurors not only came via chyron, but also Costello’s obtuse talking points. At one point she actually claimed that, “These protests are going on all across the country; the jury-members, they have a chance to kind of settle things down. Only they can answer questions as to why they found George Zimmerman not guilty. For instance … did they think race did not factor in? … If these jurors would answer these questions publicly, might it not help calm things down.”
Costello did finally mention the public threats against jurors, but only as an inconvenient caveat.
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