5-28-88 . . . The criminal trial of former [Arizona] Governor Evan Mecham and his brother, Willard, is about to begin. Both are charged with failing to report campaign loans. Today, in the newspaper, there was a list of the twelve jurors who will hear the case, together with summaries of their interests, political affiliations, and other information (but not names). To my horror, six of the twelve jurors admitted to rarely or never reading a newspaper. This astounds me. How can a person stay abreast of political and other events without reading a newspaper? Television and radio news is sketchy at best and sensationalistic at worst. It is cotton candy for the mind. Admittedly, newspapers range in quality from excellent (for example, The New York Times) to fair (The Arizona Republic), but that’s no excuse for not trying to read a good newspaper on a regular basis. We have access to The New York Times out here [in Tucson]. Of the twelve jurors, ten are registered to vote (five as Republicans, four as Democrats, and one as an independent) and seven of the ten voted in the 1986 gubernatorial election (all four of the Democrats and three of the Republicans). I found these summaries interesting.