Showing posts with label jury nullification. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jury nullification. Show all posts

Ilya Somin: Rethinking Jury Nullification

The jury's equivalent power to prosecutorial discretion. Jury nullification occurs when jurors choose not to convict a defendant they believe to be guilty of the offense charged, usually because they conclude that the law in question is unjust or the punishment is excessive. When I first thought about jury nullification as a young law student,    ... MORE

Matthew Christ: Jury Nullification Is A Moral Duty

A power for the people.   Jury nullification does not exist and no jury or defendant has the right for an instruction regarding jury nullification. I am sure that some of you have just punched your monitors, or are incensed at my hubris for speaking the truth.  In libertarian circles, some topics get so occluded with angst that we forget it is impossible   ... MORE

Jury Trials Keep The Government Under Control

by Nathan Wente.    Because justice is a result, not just a process. The 6th Amendment states: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…” The right to a jury trial should be, and was designed to be by our     ... MORE

Felony Murder Case Linked To Marijuana Deal Illustrates The Need For Jurors To Know About Jury Nullification

Because justice is a result, not just a process.    A murder case that prompted a Wichita woman’s run for governor last year is in the hands of a Sedgwick County jury. Kyler Carriker, the son of former gubernatorial candidate Jennifer Winn, faces a life sentence without parole eligibility for 20 years if he is convicted of first-degree felony murder in the  ... MORE

Drug War Update: Man Facing Felony Murder Charge For Telling An Acquaintance Where He Could Find Marijuana

by Matt Agorist.   Does it matter that he did nothing morally wrong? Kyler Carriker is a loving husband and a father whose life could be ruined because of the ridiculous nature of the state’s war on drugs. According to Carriker’s family, on April 17, 2013, Carriker and a friend had finished work and were headed out to go fishing. They were stopped by  ... MORE

Nullification Is The Answer To Obama/SCOTUS Lawlessness

by Steve Williams.   The dictates of politicians in robes. At least three jaw-droppingly unconstitutional decisions have been rendered in the past two days by The Supreme Court of the United States. Obamacare, which forces Americans to buy a (very crappy) product or be financially penalized, was "re-written"(that is, childishly rationalized) for   ... MORE

7 Bad Laws Undone By Good Jurors

A proud tradition of doing right when the law is wrong.  What is Jury Nullification? You won’t find it defined in your dictionary or described in your encyclopedia. You weren’t taught about it in school, and indeed it is even considered a crime to tell other people about it in some circumstances. Imagine that for a moment – it is a crime to   ... MORE

The Government Is Not Us: Mother Faces 30 Year Prison Sentence For Using Cannabis To Treat Crohn’s Disease

by Carey Wedler.     A prime candidate for jury nullification. Last month, Kansas mother Shona Banda made headlines when her son was removed from her custody after he defended her use of medical marijuana to treat Crohn’s Disease. He had spoken up about her use at an anti-drug presentation at his school. This prompted the school to call to ... MORE

JURY NULLIFICATION: Jury Sends Message To Cops, Chase After REAL CRIMINALS; Acquits Man On Felony Pot Charges

by Matt Agorist.    In an emotional courtroom display Friday, Steven Ficano, 65, embraced his attorney and his wife after the jury read their verdict of “not guilty.” In 2012, Ficano’s house was raided by heroes protecting the citizens of Nevada from the horrors of marijuana plants. For the next three years, Ficano anxiously lived his life thinking that  ... 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

Jury Nullification: A Concept Every American Should Learn

by Kevin Mathews.     A juror can insist on justice. Did you know that, no matter the evidence, if a jury feels a law is unjust, it is permitted to “nullify” the law rather than finding someone guilty? Basically, jury nullification is a jury’s way of saying, “By the letter of the law, the defendant is guilty, but we also disagree with that law, so we   ... MORE

Tom Knapp: J-U-R-Y does not spell 'rubber stamp'

It's getting harder to prosecute victimless crimes. Break out the world’s smallest violin for prosecutors in Alachua County, Fla. They’re having problems finding citizens who will jail other citizens for marijuana possession. In one recent case it took hours to weed out (pun intended) prospective jurors who didn’t think marijuana should be illegal.  ... MORE

The Whiskey Rebellion: True History And Hidden Lessons

What you weren't told about the power of the people.   The standard version of the whiskey rebellion story, the one which I believed until I started reading on the topic, goes something like this….  In 1791, the Congress passed a whiskey tax.  In 1792, four back-woods counties in western Pennsylvania, unable to cooperate and accept the new  ... MORE

NH Bill Would Promote Jury Nullification Defense

The power to stand up to tyranny.    A bill in the New Hampshire State House would make it illegal for a judge to stop a defendant from telling the jurors about their ability to nullify unjust or immoral laws. House Bill 246 (HB246) would make it “an act of maladministration for a judge to deny or limit the right of the accused to inform the    ... MORE

Jury Nullification And Why It Matters In The Silk Road Trial

by  Eric Markowitz.  If you happen to be lurking around the Manhattan courthouse where Ross Ulbricht’s trial began on Tuesday, you may notice one of about a dozen signs urging you to Google something called “jury nullification.” Walk a little further, and you may just encounter activists handing out jury nullification leaflets. But if you ask them to    ... MORE

Matt Kaiser: Overpunishment And Rationality

Injustice by prosecutorial discretion.     Judge Jed S. Rakoff  has launched a firestorm of conversation about his criticism of the federal criminal justice system in the New York Review of Books and his proposal for how to fix it. First, a bit of backstory for those who do not turn to the New York Review of Books for commentary on the federal      ... MORE

Every American Needs To Learn About Jury Nullification

by Kevin Mathews.    Did you know that, no matter the evidence, if a jury feels a law is unjust, it is permitted to “nullify” the law rather than finding someone guilty? Basically, jury nullification is a jury’s way of saying, “By the letter of the law, the defendant is guilty, but we also disagree with that law, so we vote to not punish the accused.”   ... MORE

J D Tucille: NH Supreme Court Guts Jury Nullification Law

The judges want more law enforcement, less justice.    State snatches more power from the people. Insisting "It is well established that jury nullification is neither a right of the defendant nor a defense recognized by law," the New Hampshire Supreme Court this morning eviscerated a law that was openly intended and widely     ... MORE