mame
Well-Known Member
Hey guys and gals i was surfing the web today and found some interesting shit (copy+paste):
When most people think of jury duty, they think that the jury's job is to only decide whether or not the evidence brought to trial is adequate to prove that a law has been broken.
What most people don't realize is that it is within the jury's power to decide that a law is bullshit, and declare non-guilt whether or not the law was broken.
Yeah, this is a huge wall of text, but it's worth a read. They literally keep this power a secret, but it is fully guaranteed by the constitution and supreme court decisions.
"We recognize, as appellants urge, the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by the judge, and contrary to the evidence. This is a power that must exist as long as we adhere to the general verdict in criminal cases, for the courts cannot search the minds of the jurors to find the basis upon which they judge. If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused, is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic of passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision." (US vs Moylan, 417 F 2d 1002, 1006 (1969))."
"YOU, as a juror armed with the knowledge of the purpose of a jury trial, and the knowledge of what your rights, powers, and duties really are, can with your single vote of not guilty nullify or invalidate any law involved in that case. Because a jury's guilty decision must be unanimous, it takes only one vote to effectively nullify a bad "act of the legislature". Your one vote can "hang" a jury; and although it won't be an acquittal, at least the defendant will not be convicted of violating an unjust or unconstitutional law."
You need to know that this right exists, because NO ONE WILL TELL YOU. They WILL NOT ALLOW IT in court. Jury nullification is valid, but it is a taboo subject in court. Defense is never allowed to mention it in a case by the judge.
"In extreme cases, this judicial hostility even extends to dishonesty. As Chief Judge Bazelon correctly observed, current law on this topic is tantamount to a "deliberate lack of candor." United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113, 1139 (D.C. Cir. 1972) (dissenting opinion). In one especially outrageous case, the jury deliberated for hours in a criminal tax case before sending the judge a note asking: "What is jury nullification?" The defendant was convicted shortly after the judge falsely told the jury that "there is no such thing as valid jury nullification," and that they would violate their oath and the law if they did such a thing. United States v. Krzyske, 836 F.2d 1013,1021 (6th Cir. 1988 ). Over a vigorous dissent, the Court of Appeals deemed the instruction proper and affirmed the conviction, id., even after the defendant furnished the court with an affidavit from a juror who swore he would have acquitted if "we were told the truth about jury nullification." United States v. Krzyske, 857 F.2d 1089,1095 (6th Cir. 1988 )."
"An acquittal may come because the jurors found the defendant attractive, or were members of the same race, or harbored hatred toward the victim's race, or merely because they were tired of being sequestered for months. This possibility, which might fairly be called "lawless nullification," is protected by our Constitution not for its own sake, but because of our commitment to the secrecy of jury deliberations and the finality and unreviewability of their verdicts. (This is true in much the same way that the First Amendment protects the right to say many things that nobody would publicly hold up as a model of good civic behavior.)"
"The jury is there, by design, "to prevent oppression by the Government" and to "protect against unfounded criminal charges brought to eliminate enemies and against judges too responsive to the voice of higher authority." Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 155-56 (196
. The jury's role "as a check on official power" is in fact "its intended function." Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 86-87 n.8 (1986). The jury injects "a slack into the enforcement of law, tempering its rigor by the mollifying influence of current ethical conventions." United States ex rel. McCann v. Adams, 126 F.2d 774, 775-76 (2d Cir. 1942) (Learned Hand, J.). That is why a directed verdict for the state would be not merely unconstitutional--it "would be totally alien to our notions of criminal justice," since "the discretionary act of jury nullification would not be permitted." Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 199 n.50 (1976) (plurality opinion).
This is also the defect in the long line of cases that disparage (p.10)nullification by claiming that the jury has only the "power," but not the "right," to do it. That may be a fair description of the jury's latitude to acquit for any lawless reason that pleases them--its "power to bring in a verdict in the teeth of both law and facts." Horning v. District of Columbia, 254 U.S. 135, 138 (1920). But the jury's power to acquit out of justice or mercy is a constitutionally protected right. If not their right, it is at least the defendant's firmly settled right that he insist on a jury with such power, regardless of whether the proof of his technical legal guilt is literally overwhelming and uncontradicted. Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275, 277-82 (1993). Any judicial instructions that would prevent the exercise of this right are unconstitutional."
found on, http://thekingdomofernor.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/197-The-power-of-a-USA-juror,-something-you-should-know.html
Full article:http://www.caught.net/juror.htm
What i got out of this is that if i could convince a jury that what i did is not wrong, they can essentially let me go!
When most people think of jury duty, they think that the jury's job is to only decide whether or not the evidence brought to trial is adequate to prove that a law has been broken.
What most people don't realize is that it is within the jury's power to decide that a law is bullshit, and declare non-guilt whether or not the law was broken.
Yeah, this is a huge wall of text, but it's worth a read. They literally keep this power a secret, but it is fully guaranteed by the constitution and supreme court decisions.
"We recognize, as appellants urge, the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by the judge, and contrary to the evidence. This is a power that must exist as long as we adhere to the general verdict in criminal cases, for the courts cannot search the minds of the jurors to find the basis upon which they judge. If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused, is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic of passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision." (US vs Moylan, 417 F 2d 1002, 1006 (1969))."
"YOU, as a juror armed with the knowledge of the purpose of a jury trial, and the knowledge of what your rights, powers, and duties really are, can with your single vote of not guilty nullify or invalidate any law involved in that case. Because a jury's guilty decision must be unanimous, it takes only one vote to effectively nullify a bad "act of the legislature". Your one vote can "hang" a jury; and although it won't be an acquittal, at least the defendant will not be convicted of violating an unjust or unconstitutional law."
You need to know that this right exists, because NO ONE WILL TELL YOU. They WILL NOT ALLOW IT in court. Jury nullification is valid, but it is a taboo subject in court. Defense is never allowed to mention it in a case by the judge.
"In extreme cases, this judicial hostility even extends to dishonesty. As Chief Judge Bazelon correctly observed, current law on this topic is tantamount to a "deliberate lack of candor." United States v. Dougherty, 473 F.2d 1113, 1139 (D.C. Cir. 1972) (dissenting opinion). In one especially outrageous case, the jury deliberated for hours in a criminal tax case before sending the judge a note asking: "What is jury nullification?" The defendant was convicted shortly after the judge falsely told the jury that "there is no such thing as valid jury nullification," and that they would violate their oath and the law if they did such a thing. United States v. Krzyske, 836 F.2d 1013,1021 (6th Cir. 1988 ). Over a vigorous dissent, the Court of Appeals deemed the instruction proper and affirmed the conviction, id., even after the defendant furnished the court with an affidavit from a juror who swore he would have acquitted if "we were told the truth about jury nullification." United States v. Krzyske, 857 F.2d 1089,1095 (6th Cir. 1988 )."
"An acquittal may come because the jurors found the defendant attractive, or were members of the same race, or harbored hatred toward the victim's race, or merely because they were tired of being sequestered for months. This possibility, which might fairly be called "lawless nullification," is protected by our Constitution not for its own sake, but because of our commitment to the secrecy of jury deliberations and the finality and unreviewability of their verdicts. (This is true in much the same way that the First Amendment protects the right to say many things that nobody would publicly hold up as a model of good civic behavior.)"
"The jury is there, by design, "to prevent oppression by the Government" and to "protect against unfounded criminal charges brought to eliminate enemies and against judges too responsive to the voice of higher authority." Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145, 155-56 (196
. The jury's role "as a check on official power" is in fact "its intended function." Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79, 86-87 n.8 (1986). The jury injects "a slack into the enforcement of law, tempering its rigor by the mollifying influence of current ethical conventions." United States ex rel. McCann v. Adams, 126 F.2d 774, 775-76 (2d Cir. 1942) (Learned Hand, J.). That is why a directed verdict for the state would be not merely unconstitutional--it "would be totally alien to our notions of criminal justice," since "the discretionary act of jury nullification would not be permitted." Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153, 199 n.50 (1976) (plurality opinion).This is also the defect in the long line of cases that disparage (p.10)nullification by claiming that the jury has only the "power," but not the "right," to do it. That may be a fair description of the jury's latitude to acquit for any lawless reason that pleases them--its "power to bring in a verdict in the teeth of both law and facts." Horning v. District of Columbia, 254 U.S. 135, 138 (1920). But the jury's power to acquit out of justice or mercy is a constitutionally protected right. If not their right, it is at least the defendant's firmly settled right that he insist on a jury with such power, regardless of whether the proof of his technical legal guilt is literally overwhelming and uncontradicted. Sullivan v. Louisiana, 508 U.S. 275, 277-82 (1993). Any judicial instructions that would prevent the exercise of this right are unconstitutional."
found on, http://thekingdomofernor.com/serendipity/index.php?/archives/197-The-power-of-a-USA-juror,-something-you-should-know.html
Full article:http://www.caught.net/juror.htm
What i got out of this is that if i could convince a jury that what i did is not wrong, they can essentially let me go!
