LibertyPen: jury

Showing posts with label jury. Show all posts

May 31, 2016

How to get on a jury

fromReason: And, what you do once you're there is up to you.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Trump to sign 'right to try' bill next week

fromTheHill: President Trump will sign legislation next week allowing terminally ill patients to access experimental drugs not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle Regulation Nation

Europe plans ban on plastic cutlery, straws and more

fromCNN: In the tradition of California, Europe's PC politicos continue to lower standards for their citizens. Ever drink through a paper straw? Yuk.
Regulation Nation

The current status of prices in Venezuela

fromEconomicPolicyJournal: A sneak peek at what the Left is pushing America towards.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Britons rage over Robinson arrest as mass protests break out worldwide

fromZeroHedge: The UK is no longer a free country and awakening citizens are freaking out. And, they should be.
The Government is Not Us

John Stossel: How junk science sends innocent people to jail

fromReason: It’s time to reform our criminal justice system.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

April 3, 2016

The spending bill brings us closer to national bankruptcy

fromReason: Thanks to Congress and President Trump, budget deficits will only mushroom.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Cops kill unarmed dad over window tint, then use his dead finger to unlock phone

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: Family claims that after killing a man over illegal window tint, cops went to funeral home and demanded access to his dead body so that they could unlock his phone with his fingerprint.
Police State America

Consent of the governed & informed juries

fromAmmoland: It used to be a common understanding that jurors had the prerogative, even the duty, to vote to acquit the accused if the juror believed that the person was being tried for violating an unfair or improper law.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Enough is enough: police violence plagues America

fromCounterPunch: The systemic violence being perpetrated by agents of the government has done more collective harm to the American people and our liberties than any single act of terror or mass shooting.
Police State America

Judge says coffee must come with a cancer warning in California

fromWallStreetJournal: In reality, it is politicians that should come with a cancer warning. They are a proven malignancy to our economic health.
Regulation Nation

Will Stephon Clark’s killing by police finally force open California misconduct investigations?

fromReason: Lawmakers have tried to counter the powerful law enforcement lobby and failed.
Police State America

January 26, 2018

How the government is gutting the right to trial by jury

fromReason: What the 2nd Circuit’s opinion in U.S. v. Tigano reveals about the state of our criminal justice system
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Andrew Napolitano: A conspiracy of silence assaults privacy

fromCreators: This marks a public policy determination that the Constitution can be ignored or evaded by majority consent whenever it poses an obstacle to the government's purposes.
The Government is Not Us Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

VIDEO: Harry Browne - Eliminate Federal Welfare

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Author, financial expert and former presidential candidate Harry Browne contends that redistribution of income is not a proper role for the federal government.
The Welfare State: Promoting Dependency

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

NBA pushes for legal sports gambling nationwide and a cut of the action

Busybodies minding your own business: California may label coffee a cancer risk

fromCirca.com: A judge will decide whether coffee should be labeled as carcinogenic under a three-decade old law which is meant to warn Californians about potential harms.
Regulation Nation

Juries Were Supposed To Be Able To Overturn Laws

by Clay Conrad. History is clear. The law is unclear on exactly what a jury is. Juries can range from four to 12 members, depending on the state and case. In two states, criminal juries need not reach unanimous judgments. In some states, jurors can question witnesses. There have even been arguments for so-called professional jurors. Some believe ... MORE

VIDEO: Jury Nullification, Jury Rights & Jury Independence

Juries Should Rein In Prosecutors With Too Much Power

by Glenn Harlan Reynolds, Washington Post. If there’s strong evidence that you’ve committed a crime, there’s still hope. Despite the evidence, those responsible for convicting you may choose to let you go, if they think that sending you to jail would result in an injustice. That can happen through what’s called “prosecutorial discretion,” where ... MORE

Jurors Need To Take The Law Into Their Own Hands

by Paul Butler, Washington Post. I learned about jury nullification while serving as a prosecutor in the District in the 1990s. As a rookie, I was warned that in nonviolent drug cases, it would be tough to get a conviction, no matter how strong my evidence was. The experienced prosecutors explained that the African American jurors “didn’t ... MORE

Robert Gebelhoff: How Powerful Should Our Juries Be?

Justice is a result, not just a process. In 1986, Leroy Reed faced criminal charges he didn’t understand. A mentally disabled ex-convict from Milwaukee, Reed was charged with illegally possessing a firearm after his parole office discovered that he had purchased a .22-caliber pistol to go with a mail-order private detective course. While it was obvious ... MORE

Jury Nullification Gets Big Boost From Lawmakers

by Bob Unruh. Because justice is a result, not just a process. A New Hampshire bill would require state courts to inform juries that a defendant who has been shown to have committed a crime can be declared not guilty if a guilty verdict would “yield an unjust result,” a concept known as jury nullification. The plan, approved 184-145 by the state House ... MORE

Justice Sotomayor Has Kind Words For Jury Nullification

by Jacob Sullum. Because justice is a result, not just a process. This week Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had some kind words for jury nullification, which empowers jurors to judge the law as well as the facts of a case and may involve disregarding the law when the law is unjust. During a discussion about juries at NYU Law School on ... MORE

Montana Man Walks Thanks To Jury Nullification

From the Tenth Amendment Center. In Montana, citizens rendered a marijuana law unenforceable through jury nullification. Recently, a man was arrested for possessing a small amount of marijuana, but the judge could not find one single person willing to sit on a jury and convict him. Unable to seat a jury, the judge was forced to give up and offer ... MORE

Jury Nullification Has Long History Of Righting Wrong Laws

by Frank Parlato. Because justice is a result, not just a process. In 1215, when the Barons of England compelled King John to sign the Magna Carta, trial by jury was established. The King now had to seek permission through 12 citizens unanimous in their verdict before he could take anyone's freedom away. That’s why we have jury trials: To ... MORE

Massachusetts Considers Fully-Informed Jury Legislation

Because justice is a result, not just a process. A bill under consideration in the Massachusetts House would reaffirm the right of jury nullification by explicitly allowing defendants to tell jurors about their ability to nullify unjust or immoral laws. Introduced by Reps. Elizabeth Poirier (R-North Attleboro) and Paul Heroux (D-Attleboro), House ... MORE

VIDEO: What Everyone MUST Know About Jury Duty

Because justice is a result, not just a process.

Keith Crosby: Stand Up Now Or Kneel Forever

Judge wisely. In the United States a jury of 12 has much more power than the attorneys or judges want you to know. I urge all who are honored to serve either as a Grand Juror or Petit Juror to study and know this power before appearing to serve. John Jay, the first chief justice of our Supreme Court and a Founding Father, said, "It is presumed that ... MORE

AP: Federal Court To Hear Challenge To Jury Nullification

Free speech under assault. A federal judge is scheduled to hear evidence in a lawsuit arguing that a Denver judge cannot bar people from telling potential jurors outside a courthouse that they have a right to ignore laws they believe are wrong. Attorney David Lane filed a lawsuit against the city and Denver police, asking a federal judge to ... MORE

The Case Against Jury Nullification -- Rebutted

by Ilya Somin, Washington Post. JUSTICE IS A RESULT, not just a process. In a recent post, co-blogger Orin Kerr offers a thoughtful critique of my and Glenn Reynolds’ recent defenses of jury nullification. Orin’s points have some validity. But, on balance, I still think that jury nullification is likely to be more beneficial than harmful relative ... MORE

Explaining Jury Nullification To A Sitting Judge

by Scott Shackford. I spent a day last week immersed in Los Angeles County's immense judicial system downtown after being summoned to jury duty. My experience was not quite as vividly terrible as Matt Welch's in New York, partly because Los Angeles lets you complete your questionnaire and orientation videos online well in advance, and thus I was ... MORE

All You Need To Know About Jury Nullification (PDF)

(but are prevented from hearing) What is jury nullification? Jury nullification is the term given to the process where the jury of a criminal case acquits the defendant regardless if he has broken the law in question. The jury would do this in a case where they judge law to be unjust, therefore the jury can vote find the defendant innocent since ... MORE

How Jury Duty Almost Turned Me Into An Anarchist

by Matt Welch. A painful government process. "Jury duty!?!?" the former aide to a certain libertarianish senator wrote me Tuesday, after I had mentioned how I was spending my day. "A very anti-libertarian and statist idea. Compulsory service to the state. I treat jury duty like I treat voting—I show up if I feel like it. And I have not felt like showing ... MORE