[Ads-l] "judged by 12"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Barry Popik has a webpage on this saying with a first citation dated
January 31, 1973.

https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/its_better_to_be_judged_by_twelve_than_to_be_carried_by_six_police_saying

[Begin excerpt from barrypopik.com]
31 January 1973, New York (NY) Times, “Official Ban Ignored: Police
Carry Extra Guns Despite Department Ban Weapons Carried Junkies With
Weapons” by Christopher S. Wren, pg. 85:

“We have been told that if we get caught in the car with anything
other than a .38, we’ll have charges brought against us,” said one
young patrolman from the 83d Precinct, which covers the Bushwick
section of Brooklyn. “But it’s better to be judged by 12 men than
carried by six. That’s the motto around here.”
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sun, Sep 13, 2020 at 8:12 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1980  _The Sun_ (Baltimore) (June 22) B1: He reminds the men that it takes
> only a fraction of a second to be blown away, while an officer worries
> about whether to draw a service revolver and fire it.  "There's an old
> saying," the [police]  lieutenant advises, "Better to be judged by 12 than
> carried by 6."
>
> 1996 W. F. Strong _Persuasion: Strategies for Public Influence_  (Dubuque:
> Kendall/Hunt) 179: When the student asked his uncle if he would shoot
> another intruder, he said, "Yes, I would rather be judged by 12 than
> carried by 6."
>
> 2020 Quora.com: No matter what I had to do to survive, I told myself I was
> going to do it, and worry about the ethical and emotional fallout later.  Or,
> as my infantry brethren say, “It’s better to be judged by 12 than carried
> by 6.”
>
> JL
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org