the new york times has an incredibly well-written story about jury duty. in some respects, it is hard to reconcile the number of people in jail in the united states with the tough standards for conviction. on the other hand, from my experience serving on a jury and seeing how some people acted during deliberations (and reacted to questions during voir dire), i can only imagine the number of jury panels that don't quite grasp the full significance of "beyond a reasonable doubt".