vnprc on Nostr: Jury nullification is fun because there is no statute or law enabling it. It arises ...
Jury nullification is fun because there is no statute or law enabling it. It arises at the intersection of two critical freedoms: jurors cannot be punished for their decision and criminal defendants cannot be tried twice for the same crime. It's literally jurors gaming the rules that enable a free society to selectively ignore unjust laws. Hacking the justice system.
This is why legal professionals get antsy if you even mention the magic words. They don't like it and they can't stop it. They will excuse you from jury duty if you indicate that you know how this stuff works. Knowledge is power.
Jury nullification is a double edged sword, though. It can be used to equal effect in ignoring just laws. This happened in the Jim Crow era to acquit people for racially motivated murders. If you find yourself on a jury in a criminal case of dubious merit do the former thing. Don't do the latter thing.
Published at
2024-12-02 16:13:22Event JSON
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"content": "Jury nullification is fun because there is no statute or law enabling it. It arises at the intersection of two critical freedoms: jurors cannot be punished for their decision and criminal defendants cannot be tried twice for the same crime. It's literally jurors gaming the rules that enable a free society to selectively ignore unjust laws. Hacking the justice system.\n\nThis is why legal professionals get antsy if you even mention the magic words. They don't like it and they can't stop it. They will excuse you from jury duty if you indicate that you know how this stuff works. Knowledge is power.\n\nJury nullification is a double edged sword, though. It can be used to equal effect in ignoring just laws. This happened in the Jim Crow era to acquit people for racially motivated murders. If you find yourself on a jury in a criminal case of dubious merit do the former thing. Don't do the latter thing.",
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