Florida Judge Branded Racist Over Juror Comments

March 6. 2009

A Florida judge has stepped down from a case, due to being accused of making a remark that is being interpreted as racist. Judge David Walsh stated blacks, Hispanics and minorities on the whole, are a no show when it comes to jury duty. I resent that!

I did one day of jury duty last year, thank you very much. After a few hours, they made an offer - if 10 people came forward and volunteered to sit on the jury, the other roughly 100 people could go home.

Being the selfless citizen I am, I sat my black butt down and did not raise my hand (grin).

Seriously, if I had more faith in the justice system and more time to devote to a trial, as I do have other obligations, I would gladly be apart of a jury.

However, I think some are skeptical of the justice system and believe they will not make a difference in a case that might be corrupted by other factors, such as a crooked judge, lawyer or juror.

Whoever was on trial could feel safe knowing I would explore every facet of the case and objectively render my unbiased, unvarnished opinion.

I hate stories of people being falsely convicted and I also dislike stories of criminals getting away with crimes in the legal system. I would be impartial, regardless of who is on trial - black, white, Hispanic, Jamaican, American, British, gay or straight.

You can’t play around with people’s names and their freedom. Justice must always be served. That should be the goal of every good court.

Side bar: when a judge makes such a statement, one maybe inclined to believe he will not be fair and impartial to minorities that appear before him. Maybe he meant no harm with his statement, but some might not see it that way.

Judge Makes Controversial Remarks

Posted: 11:50 am EST March 5, 2009Updated: 1:45 pm EST March 5, 2009

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A Volusia County judge has recused himself from a case because of controversial comments he made about African Americans, Hispanics, and Asians.

WFTV has learned that Judge David Walsh said minorities are often no-shows when it comes to serving on a jury. A court spokesman told Eyewitness News that it's typical for judges not to comment on pending cases even though he has stepped away from the present one.

The comment that Walsh said was, "I have been somewhat disheartened at the sometimes lack of certain members of certain races to serve as jurors. And I don't think it's without our attempts to try to get them here. Sometimes they just don't come. Not just African American, but others such as Asians. Hispanics, especially."

http://www.wftv.com