Shannon Costello

Despite the warnings a judge may utter, jurors will discuss a case before it is officially sent to them. I saw this happen during my experience as a jury member and I cannot imagine that it does not happen frequently. The discussion that I was present for had no effect on my opinion—or so I will tell you. James Fenimore Cooper would disagree.

His stated purpose for writing “The Ways of the Hour” was to expose the many problems in the American jury system. His complaints are many, beginning with the entirely new idea (to me) that a jury system made up of citizens is not even appropriate for a democracy. Cooper does not think the “masses” are generally capable of rendering intelligent, unbiased verdicts. He finds this especially true when he considers flagrant violations such as “pillowing” and other attempts to influence jurors or public opinion. This means that the media came in for their fair share of criticism during the course of this story. There is indeed nothing new under the sun!

There was a picture of a Hollywood star on the cover of a magazine I saw in the supermarket the other day. She was not smiling, but looking sideways at the camera with an expression that might be described as sly. I found it absolutely fascinating that the insanity of one of Cooper’s female characters was primarily discerned through her cunning, a most un-ladylike trait in the eyes of her peers.

The ending left me feeling mildly unsatisfied, but for the most part I had difficulty tearing myself away from this book. What a wild ride!