The reason they ask you questions like whether or not you would be able to find someone guilty if you knew they might get sentenced to death isn't because they want to put you in jail overnight. They just don't want you on the jury.

Sure, but that's not the same thing as saying you won't vote to convict under any circumstances.

You can certainly say you won't vote to convinct under any circumstances during voir dire.

It's not illegal in any way. It won't get you thrown in jail for contempt. It is probably protected by the first ammendment to say so. It will get you excluded from the jury.

People do it all the time, in fact.

The exact standard questions asked of jurors in voir dire vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but usually include some variation of if there any religious, philosophical, or ethical reasons you could not convict (or not acquit) generally.

I mean, imagine if you had philosophical, ethical, or reliigous reasons you couldn't convict under any circumstances and you wound up on the jury anyway! If you didn't tell the court this when asked and wound up on the jury cause you lied about it... you probably still wouldn't actually be considered in contempt, but it'd be bad.

I explained I would never impose the death penalty (it was 1st degree murder) and I was excused

I wonder whether that strongly suggests that most people (everyone?) who serves on the jury for a 1st degree murder case then believes the death penalty is just.

My jury was a 1st degree case but the prosecution was not seeking the death penalty and my state has a de facto ban on them.

This is complete BS and I would posit you’re just making things up. Link me to an article about a potential juror spending at least one night in jail due to saying they won’t convict during pre-trial jury selection.

Sure: just search for [voir dire contempt]. The first SERP for me had a law firm page with examples when I looked earlier this evening. I'm not saying it's likely, for what it's worth, but if you lie to avoid jury selection (which is what they're going to think you're doing), it's a possibility.

I got that SERP. The examples are all cases against courts for various violations during _voir dire_. I did not see a single example of a potential juror being jailed for contempt before the trial even started. This isn’t surprising; why would the judge bother holding someone in contempt rather than just moving onto the next potential juror in the pool? It’s not like there is a risk of mistrial from the actions of someone not even participating in it yet.

In reality, I don't think this ever happens unless you had a bad attitude.