Staff Reports
A judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial has ordered the media not to reveal where potential jurors have worked. The judge took action after one juror had to be dismissed because she was worried about her private information becoming public. The trial has sparked a lot of interest and strong opinions, and the judge is trying to protect the anonymity of the jurors.
Judge in Trump case orders media not to report where potential jurors work https://t.co/ruyhBnvLpa
— The Associated Press (@AP) April 19, 2024
Despite this difficulty, 12 jurors were chosen for the trial by the end of Thursday. The trial is about a $130,000 payment made to a porn actor, Stormy Daniels, shortly before the 2016 election. The payment was meant to prevent her from making public her claims of a sexual meeting with Trump. Trump has denied the encounter.
The dismissed juror told the judge that people in her life were asking if she was involved in the case. She felt she couldn’t be fair and unbiased with outside influences affecting her decision-making. The judge told reporters not to reveal where the potential jurors worked or any physical descriptions, and some media organizations were considering protesting this request.
Anonymous juries are common in cases that draw a lot of attention, especially with the influence of social media and anonymous hate speech. The judge is trying to protect the jurors from being identified. In some cases, jurors are even driven to and from the courthouse by law enforcement and are kept separate from the public during breaks.
The difficulty in this trial is in finding jurors with more moderate viewpoints. The trial has attracted people with very strong opinions about Donald Trump, so it’s important to make sure the jurors are fair and impartial. Both sides in the trial want to prevent jurors with their own strong opinions from serving on the jury.
The judge is trying to protect the privacy and safety of the jurors, and is taking steps to make sure the trial is fair for everyone involved.
