The Law of Random Selections

Somewhere in junior high school we were discussing the process of making a random selection. One of the other geeks made a comment that has been with me since. He said, "Only God can make a random selection." That truth has traveled with me ever since then.

It came up the other day in a discussion about the trial of Donald Trump in New York. Someone was ranting about Donald Trump being tried before a jury of his peers. I pointed out what I thought was the obvious problem here. This is not a jury of his peers. Over 90% of Manhattan residents voted for Joe Biden in 2020. How many of the jurors are Republicans? How many of the jurors have been candidates for public office? How many of the candidates have appeared frequently on television? How many run their own business? How many have announced that they are running for President of the United States? How many are millionaires? So, is it really a jury of his peers?

Beyond that, who put together the list of prospective jurors? Since Democrats dominate New York state government, did anyone screen the list of prospective jurors to make sure that there were no Republicans on the list? Did they really just randomly select jurors?

Let's go beyond the juror to the judge in the case. Judge Merchan was selected in a random drawing to handle the case according to those in charge of the system. Incredibly enough, Judge Merchan was also chosen at random before this to handle the Trump Organization case. With this we are beginning to challenge the laws of probabilities. An Acting Judge who has not been elected by the voters has handled two of the most high-profile cases. Is it just a coincidence that they involve Donald Trump?

Acting Judge Merchan has donated to the Joe Biden campaign in the past. His donation was less than $25. I don't care if he only donated a penny, you don't preside over a case that involves someone to whom you have donated money. I am pretty sure that is covered in the rules for judges somewhere. "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion" should apply in this situation.

How about the coincidence of two lawyers being selected for the jury? Did the state feel the need to have a couple of Democratic lawyers on the jury to explain to the other jurors how guilty Trump actually is? I have had jury duty several times and never had a lawyer on the jury with me. I did an email poll of the few lawyers that I know and none of them have ever been on a jury. Is this another one of those "Only For Trump" things?

Acting Judge Merchan was also the judge for the special grand jury that indicted Trump. I guess that is just another coincidence.

Getting back to "The Coincidence King," Acting Judge Merchan has also been selected to hear the upcoming Steve Bannon case. WOW!! Three cases in New York that are related to Donald Trump, and all involve Acting Judge Merchan being "randomly selected" to hear all of them. I am pretty good with numbers, and I would rate this as almost statistically impossible. Somewhere in the New York judicial system, Lady Justice has her blindfold off and her thumbs on the scales. 

If Judge Merchan was actually the beneficiary of this many random selections, he wouldn't be on the bench today. The lucky bastard would be at a 7-11 buying Powerball and Mega Millions tickets on his way to the airport to catch a flight to Las Vegas. 

It's time to investigate the New York State judicial system!