Posted on 09/06/2008 10:39:27 AM PDT by connell
. . . and that's a GOOD thing. From FIJA.org:
Jury Rights Day Press Release:
Jury Rights Day September 5, 2008
This Friday, September 5, 2008, marks the 338th anniversary of the day when jurors refused to convict William Penn of violating England's Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon. In refusing to convict Penn, the jurors refused to enforce what they knew to be an unjust law. This is known as jury nullification.
By refusing to enforce what they knew was an unjust law, the Penn jurors not only served justice, but provided a basis for our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly. For their refusal to obey the judge's instruction to find Penn guilty, the judge sent four of Penn's jurors to prison for nine weeks. Their later release and exoneration established forever the English and American doctrine that it is the right and responsibility of all jurors to decide matters of law and fact in any case before them.
Jurors stand as the last line of defense for people being prosecuted under unjust laws by overzealous government prosecutors and court officials.
The founders of this nation intended that jurors in all cases would know of their rights and responsibilities to judge the law, its application, and the facts in each case, to ensure that justice is served. The Sixth and Seventh Amendments are included in the Bill of Rights to guarantee that every person brought to trial has the benefit of the protection of a jury.
It was understood by the founders that all matters brought to the courts were to be considered by a jury of independent, free individuals, who were not beholden to the courts or government, and who would freely render a verdict based on justice, even if in direct opposition to the courts and the law.
Jury nullification is an integral part of our judicial system, serving as one of the "checks and balances" required by a free society. An individual juror has the power to stop an unjust prosecution by refusing to convict. This fact is unknown to most jurors today, and has contributed greatly to the decline of the authority of the jury in our court system.
Our Founding Fathers accepted the common law principle of jury nullification as an important safeguard for a free society: a test that all laws must pass. Jury nullification has been used by jurors throughout our history to "nullify" unpopular and unjust laws, from laws against free speech to slavery to Prohibition.
The Fully Informed Jury Association (www.fija.org) is a non-profit association dedicated to educating all Americans about their rights, powers, and responsibilities as trial jurors.
FIJA publishes and distributes educational material but depends upon grassroots activists to inform jurors of their rights and to undertake state-level lobbying or ballot-issue efforts.
Governors across the nation have signed Jury Rights Day Proclamations recognizing this right and authority of the juror to render a verdict based on conscience and in the service of justice. This year, Proclamations have come from Connecticut, the State of Washington, and from Alaska's Governor, Sarah Palin, who is now a Vice-Presidential candidate.
This September 5, private groups across the nation will hand out educational literature, provide interviews, give talks to civic groups, and send letters to their local newspapers to encourage people to learn more about the rights and responsibilities of jury service, as well as to encourage those on trial to demand their right to a trial by jury.
For additional information on juror rights, call the Fully Informed Jury Association's toll-free line at 1-800-TEL-JURY, or visit their website at www.fija.org. To help spread the word, you can contact your local or state FIJA worker through the list of State Contacts on the website.
The Fully Informed Jury Association is a not-for-profit research and educational group dedicated to informing all Americans of their right and duty to judge both the law and the facts, and to render a verdict based on their conscience and their own best sense of justice, even if contrary to the directions of the court.
(HT: Brits at Their Best)
Nothing radical about that. We know the 93 percenters support it - after all they celebrated when OJ was let off.
I certainly hope so!
I also am a firm believer, but I will never advertise the fact. Which is a good thing. I have never been asked as a prospective juror if I believe in jury nullification; If I ever am, I will invoke my 5th amendment right.
Jurors should acquit, even against the judge's instruction... if exercising their judgment with discretion and honesty they have a clear conviction the charge of the court is wrong. -- Alexander Hamilton, 1804
It is not only the juror's right, but his duty to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment and conscience, though in direct opposition to the instruction of the court. --John Adams, 1771
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution. -- Thomas Jefferson, 1789
It really doesn’t matter whether she supports it or not. It is a fact of life and no one can stop a jury from reaching whatever decision they choose. I believe a judges instructions to the jury are about law and on what basis they can convict. A judge can tell the jury that if they believe A, B, and C, they must convict, but if they don’t their decision cannot be overturned due to double jeopardy.
Yes, it may infrequently lead to abuse (ala O.J.) but that's the price we pay for a valuable but imperfect system.
If, in fact, Palin professes a belief in jury nullification, it just further cements in my mind that she believes that the fundamental underpinnings of our country are the people NOT the collectivists who would migrate our country toward socialism.
Just another GOOD THING!
Bingo - you got it! :-)
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