To Pick a Jury of Twelve

It is never easy to pick a jury of twelve good men and true, and it is even more difficult to find twelve who are able objectively to stand in judgment of people like the Harrisburg Seven. TIME Senior Correspondent Champ Clark listened as the prospective jurors were asked hard questions about their views on war, particularly the war in Viet Nam, and related matters. Herewith his sampling of responses:

> I'm an open-minded man. I belong to the Patriotic Order of the Sons of America. I have belonged to it for 44 years, and I don't remember when I last missed a meeting. I lean toward the patriotic idea of supporting the Government of the U.S. I think that it would be very wrong if I didn't stand up for my Government.

> I think that someone would be a fool if they didn't bring these people [the defendants] in here for some reason --I mean, if you have faith in our Government and our police force.

> No, I don't think the Government is always right. That would be wrong.

> No war is fair, because it takes loved ones away. But wars have to be fought to keep people free.

> The Bible says there will always be wars and rumors of wars, so I guess we'll always have them.

> We'll always have war. On the other hand, I'd like to see our men come home. I don't go for this half-and-half business. Maybe we should either be totally involved--you know, clean up over there--or else completely withdraw.

> If there's got to be war, then there's got to be a war. I think that citizens of the U.S. should be required to fight because they're citizens of the U.S.

> This country should never have been involved in the war. I support President Nixon's plan to end the war. But I would be prejudiced against "activities" to end the war.

> I never talk about the war. I've got five minutes to wash and change and get out of the plant, and most of it is spent kidding around. We just kid and go home. We don't have time to talk about Viet Nam.

> If they [antiwar demonstrators] are clean ... I have no objection to them. But if they look like they just came out of a rag bag, well I wonder. But even if they're not clean, they have thoughts and feelings, and I would as soon take their word about something as anyone else's.

> When I first read about the conspiracy, I thought the whole thing was kind of funny--the idea of blowing up heating ducts and running off with Henry Kissinger. Well, our foreign policy has kind of gone down the drain since then.

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