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for me, the quote from Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is important: 'The jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both the law and the facts.'
https://www.jurorsrule.com/quotations-and-comments-on-fully-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why in the world would HN readers not be eligible to serve on a jury. I was on a jury trial when a spouse of a prosecutor office employee was allowed on. People drastically overestimate what will get you moved out of the pool.
> People drastically overestimate what will get you moved out of the pool. If you say in voir dire that you wouldn't vote to convict even if the person is guilty, you're not going to get put on a jury.
When I observed jury selection I saw several people back down from stances that were clearly attempts to get kicked off the jury.
It's not like the lawyers ask one question then dismiss you.
I did see one guy who claimed he believed "all courts are invalid" hold up to some pretty intense questioning before getting dismissed. But by the grin on his face I could tell he relished winning that one.
Is jury nullification the ultimate trump card? From what little I know about it, it seems that if enough people in a community knew about it, they could 100% control what crimes are punished in that community. On face value, that makes a sort of sense intuitively, but obviously it has to be balanced against crimes that are in principle clearly wrong, despite what a local community believes.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Imagine a town didn't like someone of a certain political leaning. They could murder that person and it would only take one jury member.
Reminds me of the killing of Ken McElroy[0] >In all, there were 46 potential witnesses to the shooting, including Trena McElroy, who was in the truck with her husband when he was shot. No one called for an ambulance. Only Trena claimed to identify a gunman; every other witness either was unable to name an assailant or claimed not to have seen who fired the fatal shots. The DA declined to press charges. An extensive f…
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-66-bully/id809...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Lawyer- "Would you nullifiy this verdict due to personal beliefs?" Juror with strong opinions "ohh no, never"
I guess it would have to become a widespread problem, for lawyers to start asking this (and to some extent it hints to the existence of jury nullification). You are under oath during jury selection, right? So I guess that could hypothetically get you into some trouble. Although I'm sure it is pretty much unheard of for them to go after somebody who lied during jury selection questions...
(Juror lied about his past sexual abuse. Nothing is really going to happen, but it probably caused him some sleepless nights)
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/judge-grants-immunity-maxwe...
Some quotations... for me, the quote from Supreme Court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes is important: 'The jury has the power to bring a verdict in the teeth of both the law and the facts.' https://www.jurorsrule.com/quotations-and-comments-on-fully-...
"This is a court of law, young man, not a court of justice."
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could, for instance, prevent for most of a century most prosecutions for lynching.
Better to leave the law to the self-proclaimed "experts" who wrote and enforced laws permitting slavery for most of a century.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Imagine a town didn't like someone of a certain political leaning. They could murder that person and it would only take one jury member.
Reminds me of the killing of Ken McElroy[0] >In all, there were 46 potential witnesses to the shooting, including Trena McElroy, who was in the truck with her husband when he was shot. No one called for an ambulance. Only Trena claimed to identify a gunman; every other witness either was unable to name an assailant or claimed not to have seen who fired the fatal shots. The DA declined to press charges. An extensive f…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could, for instance, prevent for most of a century most prosecutions for lynching.
Better to leave the law to the self-proclaimed "experts" who wrote and enforced laws permitting slavery for most of a century.
Stopping the punishment of crimes is not halting all injustice.