How many of the founders believed in jury nullification? One? Two?
Why isn't it in the Constitution?
Why have laws at all, if the jury is smart enough to deal "justice" on their own? Why bother with legislation, voting, etc. Why not just call on 12 people to administer "justice" in every case?
From what I’ve read, that was the purpose of having a jury based system (which if true means it is in the Constitution by implication). I’ve seen quotes that presumed it was common knowledge that this was the expected behavior for jurors.
In fact SCOTUS has explicitly approved nullification itself, though they ruled that as the masters of the government it was the citizen-jurors’ obligation to know what their rights and duties as jurors are, and not the court’s obligation to inform them. If I get a second, I’ll try and look up the case. I think it was in the late 1800’s.