Organized Crime May (Partially) Defeat New Japanese Mixed-Court System

"Lay judges may not try mob hit," Japanese Times Online (July 18, 2009):

Prosecutors will ask a court not to try a gangster under the lay judge system for fear of possible reprisals against citizen judges, prosecution sources said Friday.

A rough parallel to the fate of trial by jury in Diplock (terrorist) cases in Northern Ireland during "The Troubles."

Should Japanese officialdom have a bit more faith in its citizenry and a little less belief in the power of its organized crime?

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