In Camden, across the river from Philadelphia, five men are on trial for a plot to attack New Jersey’s Fort Dix and kill American soldiers stationed there.

The government has presented the case as one of the most frightening examples of homegrown terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Pretty serious stuff, and you can bet the American legal system, with its jury of peers, is taking this with stone-faced sobriety.

Thirteen of the 18 jurors and alternates wore clothing or buttons betraying their support for the Philadelphia Phillies. The attorneys, judge and spectators laughed.

The prosecution used its opening statement to declare that it intends to prove that the defendants, foreign-born Muslim men in their 20s, are members of one of the most evil organizations on Earth: the official Rays fan club.

[Walkoff Walk via The Sporting Blog]