Would-Be Juror: Don't Pick Me, I'm A Racist Homophobe

Today's award for honesty goes to a would-be juror in Southampton, UK, by way of The Daily Echo. The man, whose name was withheld, wrote a letter to the Crown Court saying that he shouldn't be selected to serve on a dangerous driving case because he, in his own words, holds "extreme prejudices against homosexuals and black/foreign people and couldn’t possibly be impartial if either appeared in court." He went on to say that if selected, he would simply vote with the majority to end the case as fast as possible, and just for good measure, mentioned that he didn't have much respect for the legal system.

His plan worked, sort of. Lawyers on the case challenged him as a juror, and Presiding Judge Gary Burrell dismissed him with some choice words: “If you do genuinely hold these views then you are someone who should not be on the jury and I question whether you should be doing anything responsible in society at all.” It gets better—Burrell is turning the Attorney General's office on the case, suggesting that the man face prosecution for failing to serve on a jury. (More criminal justice system stories.)