Juries powers acknowledged in the Granite State. Criminal defense attorneys predict New Hampshire jurors routinely will be told they have the right to find someone innocent even if the state proves its case because New Hampshire has passed what appears to be the nation's first “jury nullification” law. Earlier this month, a Belknap County ... MORE
Showing posts with label court. Show all posts
Showing posts with label court. Show all posts
Wisconsin Raw Milk Advocates Hope For Jury Nullification
Citizens look for tyranny protection. Supporters of a Wisconsin dairy farmer facing a criminal trial for
selling raw milk hope they can turn up interest in jury nullification
among residents of Sauk County who might be seated to hear his case. As Rick Barrett reports in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a
Washington-based group defending the ... MORE
Labels:
court,
farming,
government,
juror,
jury nullification,
law,
regulation,
restrictions,
tyranny
Abby Simmons: Jury Nullification In Minnesota?
Jury refuses to convict raw milk distributor. A soft-spoken Minnesota farmer was cleared of violating state laws
for distributing raw milk Thursday, a verdict advocates for such foods
called their first major legal victory. After a three-day trial and more than four hours of
deliberation, a Hennepin County jury found Alvin Schlangen ... MORE
Labels:
bureaucracy,
court,
freedom,
government,
jury nullification,
justice,
law,
principles,
regulation
NY Times Editorial: California And The Fourth Amendment
State takes to seizing DNA without a warrant. On Wednesday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is scheduled to reconsider whether California violates the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against searches and seizures by requiring police to take DNA samples from people arrested but not yet convicted of felonies. ... MORE
Labels:
arrest,
Constitution,
court,
DNA,
government,
law,
probable cause,
rights,
search and seizure
Juror In Cannabis Nullification Case Speaks Out!
Doing justice, not merely law enforcement. As reported earlier, a NH jury has found a man not guilty of growing cannabis in the first-ever (that I know of) use of jury nullification in NH! Now one of the jurors, who happens to be a Free State Project participant, Cathleen, is speaking out. Below is her written statement about her experience on the ... MORE
New Hampshire Jury Exercises Its Nullification Powers
Empowered jury just says 'no' -- to the law. In a developing story that has hit Reason.com, an NH jury has acquitted a man facing a felony for growing cannabis! It’s our first real-life case of jury nullification here in NH and the jury nullification law hasn’t even gone into effect yet. Kudos to the judge for reading a fair and easy-to-understand jury ... MORE
TSA Denies Stonewalling Nude Body-Scanner Court Order
by David Kravets. The Transportation Security Administration denied Thursday it was stonewalling a federal appeals court’s year-old decision demanding the agency hold public hearings concerning the so-called nude body scanners installed in U.S. airport security checkpoints. On July 15, 2011, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ... MORE
Labels:
court,
individual liberty,
justice,
privacy,
regulation,
search and seizure,
surveillance,
TSA,
xray
Jury Nullification May Be Only Hope For Raw Milk Farmer
by Dan Flynn. We are going to have to wait a little longer to see if supporters of Wisconsin raw milk dairy farmer Vernon Hershberger can pull off a rarely used legal maneuver called jury nullification. Sauk County Judge Guy Reynolds has moved the start of the Hershberger jury tail to Jan. 7, 2013. Evidence and witness lists are due Oct. 19, and the final ... MORE
New Warrantless Wiretap Ruling Makes Spying Legal
by Dan Graziano. A federal appeals court on Tuesday ruled in favor of President George W. Bush’s controversial Terrorist Surveillance Program, which allows the government to spy on Americans without a warrant. The court reversed an earlier decision in which two American attorneys were awarded more than $20,000 in damages and their lawyers ... MORE
Labels:
court,
government,
privacy,
ruling,
search and seizure,
snooping,
spying,
surveillance,
warrants
David Hill: Maryland Gun Permit Law Struck
One step closer to finalizing a landmark victory. A federal judge has ordered Maryland officials to stop enforcing a law barring state residents from receiving concealed-carry handgun permits unless they provide a “good and substantial reason” to carry their weapons in public. U.S. District Court Judge Benson Everett Legg on Monday lifted the stay on ... MORE
Jury Nullification: The Elephant In The Room
by Lisa Provence. There's an elephant in every courtroom. Prosecutors and judges won't show it to jurors, and even Virginia defense lawyers seem forbidden from mentioning this fact: If you think a law is unjust, you can acquit. It's called jury nullification, and such Founding Fathers as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson venerated juries as "the last ... MORE
Labels:
Constitution,
court,
history,
individual liberty,
jury nullification,
justice,
law,
marijuana,
rights
Ronald Bailey: Citizens Resisting Ridiculous Laws?
Protecting individual liberty from the jury box. In Charlottesville, Va. (where I spend most of my time) a jury just found Philip Cobbs not guilty of marijuana possession. As the superb local weekly The Hook reports: Cobbs, a 54-year-old who takes care of his elderly mother, was arrested last summer after a marijuana eradication helicopter flew ... MORE
Labels:
Bill Of Rights,
court,
jury nullification,
justice,
law,
law enforcement,
medical marijuana,
policy
Jury Nullification Can Highlight Flaws In The Law
by Bob Egelko. The case of William Lynch, who admitted beating a priest in retaliation for a sexual assault 35 years earlier, was a classic example of jury nullification - jurors' power to acquit a defendant based on their sense of justice or subjective feelings, rather than the law's definition of guilt or innocence. Juries used that power in 1670 to free William Penn ... MORE
Michael Suede: Jury Nullification Becomes Reality in N.H.
Judging the law as well as the facts. For those of you who don’t know much about jury nullification, basically it’s when the jury finds a defendant innocent because of their dislike of the law. For example, a jury might refuse to convict a non-violent drug offender because they disagree with the fundamental premise of drug laws themselves. ... MORE
Labels:
court,
drug war,
fairness,
free speech,
gambling,
individual liberty,
jury nullification,
justice
Sarah de Crescenzo: Court Rules Cities Can't Ban Pot Shops
State law preempts municipal bans. Orange County cities fighting to keep out medical marijuana dispensaries may have a tougher time doing so after a Monday ruling affirming the legality of the shops under California law. A three-justice panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled that Los Angeles County's ban on medical marijuana is "preempted" by state ... MORE
Labels:
cities,
court,
drug war,
government,
health,
medical marijuana,
medicine,
prohibition,
ruling
The Economist: Jury Nullification Rights In New Hampshire
The "live free or die" state chooses the former. Before I dive into the subject of this post, let me warn you that it has absolutely nothing to do with John Roberts, the commerce clause, cultivated crops of the Brassica oleracea species or how Americans get their health care. In honour of independence day (which I'm spending indoors revelling in the one ... MORE
Daily Mail: It's Too Doggone Easy To Search For Drugs
Police utilize pooch that alerts for drugs in every car. A dog with a sharp nose for drugs can be a great asset to any police department, but in the case of a German shepherd named Bono, accuracy is not his strongest suit. The four-legged crime fighter working for the Virginia State Police has been on a hot streak, detecting drugs nearly every time he’s on the ... MORE
Paul J Larkin Jr: How Well Do You Know The Law?
Overcriminalization in America. You’ve been invited to participate on a new game show called Do You Know the Law? Two wrong answers eliminate you. “Why not?” you say to yourself. “I know as much law as the next person. What’s the worst that could happen: embarrassment?” The first panelist correctly answers the question, “Can you steal your neighbor’s car?” ... MORE
Labels:
court,
DOJ,
government,
justice,
law,
politics,
prosecute,
regulation,
restrictions,
tyranny
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