Apparently you have to believe that Islam is a Religion of Peace™ to serve on this jury -- which suggests that the trial itself will tread only very, very lightly, if at all, into territory concerning the motives and goals of these men. Fort Dix Jihad Update: "7 qualified jurors so far in Fort Dix case," by Geoff Mulvihill for The Associated Press, October 7 (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):
CAMDEN, N.J. - The complex and sometimes tedious process of probing the biases of prospective jurors began Tuesday in the case of five men accused of planning to attack soldiers on Fort Dix.
Lawyers on Tuesday morning asked questions of 11 potential jurors, examining whether they could be fair even if they thought Islam encouraged violence or they had family in the military. [...]
The first one may have been one of the hardest cases.
The woman said she is the wife of a retired New Jersey National Guard member who served about a year in Cuba at Guantanamo Bay, where the U.S. is holding suspect terrorists rounded up abroad.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Fitzpatrick asked if she could keep an open mind in light of that.
"I think I would have some difficulty," said the woman, whose name, like those of others called on the case, is not being made public , even to the attorneys questioning her.
For 45 minutes, lawyers on both sides grilled the woman on a number of topics, including her opinion of Islam, whether she would hold it against the defendants if they did not testify, and whether she could separate the case from the people she's known who have served at Fort Dix....
She had "too many biases" and was excused.
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