I served on a jury last summer. I volunteered to be presiding juror, because I kind of have an assertive, controlling-type of personality (in a nice way, though, really!). Anyway, half-way through I was practically rolling my eyes because the case was SOOOOO cut and dried. A small-business owner tenant hadn't read his lease contract carefully and didn't think he needed to pay the last month's rent even though it was clearly written that he did. I mean, it was REALLY clear. So we go into the jury room after the lawyers concluded their cases and I thought we'd be finished in 10 minutes. Turns out, most of the people in the room agreed that the contract was clear, but they felt that it wasn't fair to make the guy pay because the leasing company had neglected to remind him that he owed the money. We debated in that damned room all afternoon! The few of us who saw the case as a clear breach of contract issue finally convinced the rest of the panel to meet us half-way, but it was tough.
After that experience, I have much less faith in the American legal system than I did before. If juries have a tough time logically analyzing the most basic stuff like this, then the more complicated issues are pretty much hopeless from the outset!
There are lots of intelligent, rational people in the world. I am lucky to work with mostly very bright people, and this blog is full of the same. However, when I allow myself to think about how so much of the population of this planet is not so sharp, I get scared and worried. No wonder things are such a mess, and always have been.