Jury Still Out

To the Editors:

Overwhelming is the word I would use for my own service as a juror [Sept. 28]. I was astonished to discover how biased I was, even in areas where I had been certain I could be objective. I would encourage every citizen who is ever called for jury duty to accept. It was a privilege as well as a learning process.

Sherry Terzian Los Angeles

Since the first time I was asked to serve on a jury, I have maintained that everyone believes in the system until asked to serve on a jury.

Joseph B. Mirsky West Palm Beach, Fla.

Two days prior to reading "We, the Jury,..." I walked out of criminal court with eleven fellow jurors, having recommended the death sentence in a first-degree-murder trial. We shared one common feeling when the trial was over; we had done what we had to do, not what we wanted to do. Those six days were among the most difficult and exhausting of my life. It was an "irksome, boring, vital, rewarding" and sobering ordeal.

Leslie Grogan Coral Gables, Fla.

In my opinion we greatly overuse the jury system. It is sheer waste to impanel a jury for every auto-accident case. In highly technical civil suits, experienced and impartial judges can get to the merits in a fraction of the time. It is usually the side that feels that those merits need to be skirted that demands a jury.

William J. Weipert Jr., Circuit Judge

38th Judicial Circuit of Michigan

Monroe, Mich.

As a criminal defense lawyer, I consider choosing a jury one of the most important and terrifying aspects of a trial because it is my job to make sure those twelve people see my client's side of the case. None of my questions in voir dire is pointless. During that process, it is impossible for me to explain to a juror just why I ask a particular question. Yet when I present my case, I hope the reason becomes clear. Since my client's life is in the hands of those twelve people in the box, I want to know as much about them as I can.

Reesa Evans-Marcinczyk Assistant State Public Defender Green Bay, Wis.

A potential juror should accept his call for service only on a voluntary basis. Telling someone he has to serve under threat of penalty, and with disregard for hardship or loss of income, is not the best way to pick fair-minded jurors.

Leonard Clairmont Honolulu

Your story on jury duty was superb.

Sometimes, as you know, one is "bumped" on voir dire because he is a reader of TIME.

Sophie Chrissoveloni New York City

Goldwater's Right

I have deep admiration for Barry Goldwater for his criticism of Moral Majority policies [Sept. 28] and his stand on political freedom. One has only to look at Iran to see the results of being ruled by a "religious right."

Martha J. Tribble Chattanooga I don't always agree with Senator Goldwater, but this time "In my heart--and mind--I know he's right."

Paul R. Mow Aiea, Hawaii I do not kill, rape, steal or cheat and try not to lie, but I do read Playboy and watch Three's Company. Does Falwell expect me to burn in hell?

Brett Angus Ledyard, Conn.

Loeb's Legacy

In your obituary of William Loeb, the New Hampshire publisher [Sept. 28], you used the adjectives splenetic, petulant, scurrilous, infuriating and notorious to describe the man and his methods. You passed over the one word that perhaps describes him best: vicious.

Freeman Cleaves Millburn, N.J.

William Loeb's tirade is ended. The only good thing to come of so much space devoted to his passsing is that those who were personally and politically mangled by his front-page assaults will now know that others can see William Loeb for what he was. Loeb's victims will outlive his memory for many, many happy years.

Quentin Leo New York City

I did not always agree with William Loeb's editorials, but at least I knew they were his opinions and not a masquerade for truth. This cannot always be said of other dailies, which present their views as unadulterated fact. Your vituperative obituary should have recognized this.

Christine A. Adamec Merrimack, N.H.

In Loeb's own words, "a newspaper is meant to be controversial: write controversy and you write for me!" You gave him a good sendoff. I could almost be convinced he wrote it himself.

Bea McCormack Patterson Corpus Christi, Texas

Inca Irrigation

It was wonderful to read about old Inca canals being put to good use again [Sept. 28]. The Yucatan peninsula and Guatemala also have ancient canals that might be restored, thus helping these poor areas become prosperous again.

Benjamin Urrutia Albany

Zero Option Your story "Getting Together--at Last" [Sept. 28] covering the visit of Secretary of State Alexander Haig to Bonn and Berlin unfortunately misrepresented the position of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic, Helmut Schmidt. You assert that Chancellor Schmidt explained to Haig that the Soviets should dismantle some of the 250 SS-20s already in place, thereby eliminating any need for new NATO missiles. What the Federal Chancellor did was persuade the Secretary of State of the necessity to include the zero option [whereby, in return for the dismantling of all Soviet SS-20s targeted on Europe, the U.S. would not deploy new medium-range missiles] in the Western formula for the negotiations. For two years Chancellor Schmidt has considered the zero option a desirable basis of reciprocity. The precondition for a zero option of the West has to be the Soviet readiness to dismantle the SS-20s.

Kurt Becker

Government Spokesman

Bonn

Who Can Pay?

If the Reagan Administration prefers to concentrate on stimulating production [Sept. 28], who's going to buy the products? Mr. and Mrs. Average American will discover their newly won tax breaks are more than offset by other tax increases, rising rents, larger utility bills and higher food costs.

What's left to buy that new automobile, which now has a price tag that defies the law of demand? What's left to set aside for that down payment on a new home? Or Johnny's college education?

What's left to save for a rainy day?

Let's face it: the rainy day is already here.

Russell P. Richmond

St. Joseph, Mich.

Poland vs. the Bear

The Soviet bear growling at Poland's Solidarity union [Sept. 28] is either a sign of severe indigestion or the antics of a brainless beast. The Soviets describe Solidarity's call for an independent labor movement within the Soviet Union as a blatant act of interference and meddling. What is one to call the warning letter delivered to Polish Party Boss Kania by U.S.S.R. Ambassador Boris Aristov?

Edwin P. Kulawiec Bethesda, Md.

The big bears in Moscow have a tough story to explain. Events in Poland are just another example of the failure of Soviet Communism to serve the people. This time, the majority of the labor force, which is the backbone of any economy, is rebelling against an inflexible, suffocating, authoritarian regime. If Communism is so dedicated to benefiting the proletariat, why is it that the working class is rising up in Poland?

Jeffrey Luce Dingle Gladwyne, Pa.

Having recently returned from a teaching assignment in Poland, I was pleased to find your compassionate reporting in "Fed Up with the Food Fight." The Poles may be short-tempered because of the current political and economic difficulties, but they are not short of love for their country or a desire for a free Poland.

George J. Gil Us Delafield, Wis.

Beer and Beauty

Natural Light had a great idea when it decided to star a woman in its beer commercial [Sept. 28]. But it lost my business when it put her in a sexy bathing suit instead of showing her at a construction site, drinking with friends, or sitting down to a well-deserved glass after cooking, cleaning and minding the kids.

Mary Clemens Palisades Park, N.J.

Christie Brinkley gives us male viewers one more reason to try Anheuser-Busch's Natural Light. She is more appealing than any of those "over-the-hill" athletes appearing for Miller Lite beer.

Robert L. Fabry St. Louis

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