Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
John Kerr: Take Profit And Self-Interest Out Of Policing
All theft should be illegal. Law enforcement officials have plenty of words to categorize property heists, including robbery, theft, burglary, embezzlement and larceny. Perhaps it’s time to add another term to the lexicon: civil forfeiture. Many Americans may not realize that civil forfeiture laws—which proliferated in the 1980s as the drug war ... 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. ... MORENullification And The Kentucky Resolution Of 1798
by William J. Watkins, Jr. Because the United States was founded as a constitutional republic -- one based on certain specific principles, not power or privilege -- Americans of all eras frequently raise concerns about federal authority that bear resemblance to debates from earlier times in our history. A good illustration of this “echo effect” in American ... MOREMario Nicolais: Jury Nullification In Colorado Spotlight
The law you won't be told. “God gives air to men; the law sells it to them.” — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables Such is the disdain proponents of jury nullification feel toward laws
and prosecutions they believe to be unjust. Generally the province of a
small but passionate and vocal few, jury nullification found itself in
headlines and on editorial pages ... 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 ... MORECynthia M. Cale: Forensic DNA Evidence Is Not Infallible
Some new techniques have higher probability of error. Earlier this month, the Texas Forensic Science Commission raised concerns about the accuracy of the statistical interpretation of DNA evidence, and it is now checking whether convictions going back more than a decade are safe. Despite how it is often portrayed, in the media and in courts, ... 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 ... MOREKeith 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 ... MOREDon’t Forget The Jury’s Power To Rule On Moral Grounds
by James Weeks II. In recent years, many people have fallen victim to government tyranny, everything from drug offenses to tax resisters. Historically, going back to the Magna Carta, it has been the job of the jury to stand in the way of government tyranny and judge the law as well as the case. Jury nullification was used to deny convictions ... MOREJordan Richardson: A Serious Problem In Our Legal System
Justice is a result, not simply a process. A life sentence. For Sharanda Jones, a first-time, nonviolent cocaine offender, it wasn’t sinking in. “I was numb,” she remembers. “I was thinking about my baby. I thought it can’t be real life in prison.” Having grown up in a disadvantaged family, Sharanda started working at the age of 14, later opening ... MORE
Learn About Jury Nullification: Medical Marijuana Patient Could Spend Close To 100 Years In Prison For Pot Charges
by Maria Ines Taracena. The thought of possibly spending close to 100 years in prison terrifies Kyle Catlin. But he's mostly concerned about his mom. She's not in the best of
health. If something were to happen to her, "I may not even be allowed
to leave prison to go to my mom's funeral, and that's super fucked up,"
he says. "I'm probably not gonna ... MOREJohn W. Whitehead: ‘Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death’ - The Loss Of Our Freedoms In The Wake Of 9/11
To comply or to resist? What began with the passage of the USA Patriot Act in October 2001 has snowballed into the eradication of every vital safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse. Since then, we have been terrorized, traumatized, and acclimated to life in the American Surveillance State. The bogeyman’s names and faces ... MORE
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