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Picking A Jury

I guess all the bitter gun-lovin' anti-immigrant Bible-thumpers that Obama has been going on about showed up en masse in Bobby Gilbert's courtroom yesterday. Can someone explain to these kind folks that Bobby is actually trying to help homeowners get relief from an illegal government taking:

There was no shortage of opinions on the first day of jury selection in the class action lawsuit brought by some 60,000 Broward homeowners against the state of Florida for destroying their citrus trees.

''A shameless money grab,'' was the way one juror described the lawsuits.

Others said they question spending money for tree reimbursement in tight times, when schools, medical issues and public safety concerns are pressing.

Another juror said she didn't think it was fair the state destroyed so many trees. When asked whether she could be a fair and impartial juror, she said no.

The issue is whether jurors feel they already have their minds made up.

On Monday, one juror called the process a 'waste of time and taxpayers' money.'' Later, when plaintiffs' attorney Bobby Gilbert compared the taking of a tree to the taking of 15 feet of property, the juror acknowledged that he'd ``have to think about it.''

Gilbert repeatedly made the point that the U.S. Constitution requires citizens to be paid for their property taken by the government, whether it is property for a roadway or citrus trees.

The waste of time and taxpayer money is the State's refusal to come to the table and settle this case on a reasonable basis. Suing governments is always the same -- no one wants to run it like a business, make an assessment, and come to the table for a negotiated compromise that is in everyone's best interests. Instead, they have government lawyers who can bill endlessly with no consequences, and they are playing with funny money -- our taxes.

U.S. Constitution? Oh Bobby!

Bobby Bobby, come on -- that moldy old document? You might as well throw in that quaint musty Geneva Convention treaty in there too, who gives a crap about any of that anymore?

Full post as published by South Florida Lawyers on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).