have a rec.

where in that case the dissenter was correct, but it is a brilliant dissection of just how we can go wrong even when we think we're trying to do the right thing.

(And not all of us are trying to do the right thing)

Even if it ended up a 11-1 mistrial that would have given prosecutor's ammo to negotiate a plea deal with the defendant to avoid a new trial.

about abuse at a local nursing home. a relatively healthy elderly woman deteriorated and died in the nursing home after being there for just a month. cause of death was dehydration. the nursing home bilked medicare by claiming this elderly woman had the highest level of physical therapy possible, yet her bedsore got much worse in the short period she was there. three weeks of daily logs were mysteriously missing, and an employee testified that the manager created logs right in front of him.
the younger people on the jury were more concerned about why her neighbors/caretakers were filing suit on behalf of the elderly woman than the clear indications of abuse...and fraud perpetrated by the nursing home staff. the majority voted in favor of the elderly woman, but a few voted for the nursing home because of suspicions about the motives of the people who sued...which was totally irrelevant to the case. yes...you can bet that someone on that jury will be swayed by zimmerman's bullshit.

Based on an anonymous call hours earlier about a man hitting a child in a car, the police show up at that man's apartment around midnight. The man, having no clue what is going on, refuses the cops who do not have a warrant entry to his home. Claiming exigent circumstances, officers arrest the man and enter the home. Finding the kids OK and nothing wrong, they arrest the man for obstruction, failure to comply and resisting.

The deliberations were painful. I was one of maybe three people who weren't in the "if he had just done what the police wanted he wouldn't have been arrested", or "People who don't obey the police need to be in jail", or the ever popular "not letting the police in makes him look guilty" camps.

I almost just got up and walked out because I was so exasperated and frustrated dealing with the cop-worshiping authoritarians.

For the record, the kids were fine. What the caller had seen--looking into another car, at night, on the freeway, while driving, was actually the man trying to right a cooler that had tipped over in the back seat. At the time the kids were asleep.

I used to be a clammer. I worked the Great South Bay of Long Island.

Another possibility is that the person was caught in "the winter grounds". That's an area that's closer to shore than the regular clamming area. During the winter when the bacteria count lowers it gets opened.

If the person was clamming to sell seed then there was an unethical buyer involved. Enforcement agencies sometimes check for seed during the ride to dockage or when selling the clams.

Though the clammer could have been selling the clams directly.

My amazing brother still rakes clams at the age of 59 but now he has to work the North Shore of Long Island.

Afaik there are only two clammers left on the South Shore. There used to be hundreds. Due to storms the Great South Bay now gets more ocean water thus marginally raising the salinity. Though i've heard other theories as to why we can't get a good set of seed. We tried so hard by way of planting chowders that produce seed.