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

Bob Unruh: How Much Power Do Juries Really Have?

Answer: much more than they are told. A case against a Michigan man for handing out informational leaflets on jury nullification in front of a courthouse could impact what juries can do and how much control judges and prosecutors have of their decision-making process. “Freedom of speech is not absolute,” argued Brian E. Theide, who is        ... 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

Disconnect Between Public Comments & Private Thoughts

by Jay Jamison.   Trump is like jury nullification. Once a criminal case is handed to the jury, the outcome is no longer under the control of the authorities and professionals who conducted the trial. Jury nullification is a term that describes a verdict that runs counter to the law, the evidence or even the instructions of the presiding judge. During a trial,   ... MORE

New Hampshire Committee Approves Jury Nullification Bill

Because justice is a result, not just a process. A New Hampshire House committee has approved a bill that would make jury nullification an official aspect of the state legal system. A coalition of nine representatives introduced House Bill 1270 (HB1270) in January. The legislation would allow a defendant or defense attorney to request that the court  ... MORE

Carey Wedler: Inconvenient Truths - 15 News Stories From 2015 You Should Have Heard About But Probably Didn’t

What we don't know does hurt us.    In 2015, the iron fist of power clamped down on humanity, from warfare to terrorism (I repeat myself) to surveillance, police brutality, and corporate hegemony. The environment was repeatedly decimated, the health of citizens was constantly put at risk, and the justice system and media alike were perverted to   ... MORE

Justice Sotomayor Supports Practice Of Jury Nullification

by Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.  An article published by the Fully Informed Jury Association reports that on February 8, Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor (shown) told a group gathered at New York University that she disagreed with the Second Circuit Court’s holding in United States vs. Thomas. In that ruling, the court refused to recognize the    ... MORE

Dennis Sevakis: Is It Possible To Restrain The Federal Judiciary Or Downsize The Federal Government?

A population frozen in an extended adolescence.      When one man, Justice Anthony Kennedy, acting as the deciding swing vote on the Supreme Court, declared that “gay marriage” was now the law of land for a country of some 320 million persons, he may as well have been seated on a planet other than the one originally occupied by the men who   ... 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

Why Jury Nullification? New Jersey Man Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison For Growing 17 Marijuana Plants

by MaryAnn Spoto.    Because justice is a result, not simply a process. A Mays Landing man was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday for growing 17 marijuana plants in the Pinelands. When Jon Peditto was arrested in 2012, he admitted the pot plants were his and told investigators he grew them primarily for his own use but had also ... MORE

Jury Nullification Anyone? - Planned Parenthood-Linked Prosecutor Fuels Bias Charges Against Pro-Life Activists

by Valerie Richardson.      Pro-life groups cried foul over Monday’s criminal indictments against two Center for Medical Progress investigators because a prosecutor in the Harris County District Attorney’s office is also a Planned Parenthood board member. Lila Rose, founder of the pro-life group Live Action, called for a special prosecutor to review    ... MORE

Jury-Nullification Activist Delivers In-Your-Face Defense

by Bob Unruh.     A Michigan man charged with felony obstruction of justice and jury tampering for handing out a leaflet on jury nullification in front of a courthouse contends the local prosecutor’s objection to the contents of his material doesn’t make his actions a crime. Keith Wood, a former pastor, was arrested Nov. 24 on the orders of Mecosta   ... MORE

What Passes For Justice In Missouri: Brother And Sister Get More Than 15 Years Each For Growing 12 Marijuana Plants

by Teresa Ressel.    Why you should learn about jury nullification. A brother and sister will be going to prison for a while for growing marijuana in their apartment. On Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Kenneth W. Pratte sentenced 34-year-old David G. DePriest to 22 years in prison for production of marijuana, possession of more than five grams of   ... MORE

America's History Of Justice: How Jury Nullification Set Wild Bill Hickok Free Although He Killed A Man Illegally!

Because justice is a result, not simply a process.   On July 20 1865, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was playing in a poker game at the Lyon House Hotel in Springfield MO., when a friend of his, Davis Tutt showed up claiming Hickok owed him $45 from an earlier game. Hickok said he only owed $25 since he had paid Tutt $20 some days    ... MORE

Frank Parlato: It's Time You Understood Jury Nullification

Justice is a result, not simply a process.   Jury nullification is the term used when a jury – or even a single juror – votes to acquit a criminal defendant who is technically guilty, but who juror(s) do not believe deserve punishment. It occurs in a trial when a jury reaches a verdict contrary to the judge’s instructions. It occurs when a single juror  ... MORE

Tampering Charges Dropped Against Jury Rights Advocate

by Barry Donegan.  Judge acknowledges the First Amendment. District Court Judge Kenneth Plotz dismissed all charges on Wednesday against jury nullification activists Eric Brandt and Mark Iannicelli, who had been charged in July with seven felony counts of jury tampering while handing out Fully Informed Jury Association flyers with general        ... MORE

Man Charged With A Felony For Passing Out Jury Right Flyers Demands The Names Of These 'Tampered Jurors'

by Bob Unruh.       Defending a First Amendment assault. A lawyer representing a Michigan man accused of jury tampering for handing out brochures about the concept of jury nullification – essentially jurors voting their conscience no matter their instructions from prosecutors and judges – now wants to talk to potential jurors who may have been in the   ... 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

Free Speech Be Damned: Tyrannical Judge Orders Man Arrested And Jailed For Handing Out Jury Rights Fliers

by Barton Deiters.   Because justice is a result, not just a process. A 39-year-old former pastor was arrested and jailed in Mecosta County after he handed out fliers informing people about jury nullification in front of the county courthouse. Keith Wood said he was handing out pamphlets from the Fully Informed Jury Association on Nov. 24 while        ... MORE

Justin Gardner: Colorado Juries Keep Letting People Go for Driving on Weed; The Prosecutors And Cops Are Furious

When the state is arbitrary and capricious. Colorado prosecutors are getting frustrated at jurors for daring to exercise rationality instead of blindly following the will of the State. A growing number of juries are acquitting people of driving under the influence of cannabis, even when tests show they are over the state’s legal blood-THC limit.   ... MORE