Skin color aside, it's pretty apparent that the lone juror believes that nobody gives a shit about mental health in 99% of cases, so the holdup was surely regarding why we should suddenly care about mental health in this case.
The lone juror being black supports this theory. It is well-documented history that black kids who were clearly mentally unwell were coerced into false confessions by police, found guilty immediately by all white juries, and executed expeditiously by the state. Mental health was not a factor in those cases. I think this is the stand that the juror took, whether you agree with it or not.
Not that I disagree with the reasoning, and the theory does have some merit.
I do think it is a bit presumptuous to say "it is pretty apparent" when there are plenty other motives or reasons that can be just as likely in this scenario for where the verdict stems from. The case in question is rather multi-faceted and it doesn't help that it is massively sensationalized either.
Here it feels more like you are projecting yourself onto the juror rather than considering the broader context the juror exists in beyond the historical, as well as the fact there's limited information around who the juror is.
I'd personally refrain from drawing conclusions based on limited evidence other than gut feeling and statistics.
51
u/Offsets 20h ago
Skin color aside, it's pretty apparent that the lone juror believes that nobody gives a shit about mental health in 99% of cases, so the holdup was surely regarding why we should suddenly care about mental health in this case.
The lone juror being black supports this theory. It is well-documented history that black kids who were clearly mentally unwell were coerced into false confessions by police, found guilty immediately by all white juries, and executed expeditiously by the state. Mental health was not a factor in those cases. I think this is the stand that the juror took, whether you agree with it or not.