Miscellaneous

Swearing Required

By Anne Skove, Esq.

What if they had a trial and nobody swore?

An area plagued by non-oath-swearing judges and justices, upstate New York has had its share of problems related to informality in local courts.

This time, a conviction was reversed after jurors were not properly sworn. Meaning, opponents held, that jurors had free license to lie during voir dire.

The opposition was organized by the Oaths Project, a subsidiary of the New York State Tyranny Response Team. Rarely, we imagine, does a group like this score such a coup.

Are oaths mere relics? Perhaps, but they're still required by law. Until they are not, "just do it."

See Improper Oath Reverses Murder Conviction, June Maxam, North Country Gazette (June 22, 2008).

Full post as published by court-o-rama.org on June 24, 2008 (boomark / email).