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Food Not Bombs trial rescheduled after too many jurors objected to $500 fine for feeding homeless
(www.houstonchronicle.com)
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this post was submitted on 23 Jan 2024
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And which laws should be subject to jury nullification? Just the ones you think are bad? Who should it be used for or against? Yes, in this case it makes sense if you have any level empathy because the law is needlessly cruel. But what if I fervently believe that laws punishing white collar crime in any way are always cruel so any jury deciding a white collar case should always nullify? Should I go ahead and educate the world that if you're on a jury in a fraud case that bankrupted retirees and school teachers, you should always vote not guilty because the crime of fraud is absurd so punishing it is cruel?
If a law is stupid, you need to fix the legislature or legislative process, not the enforcement. Selective enforcement of the law tends to consistently lead to very bad outcomes.
Vote with your principles. If I don't agree with a law, I'm not going to vote to convict someone of it. Like vice laws; as long as anyone involved consents, I don't think it should be punished. If I'm on a jury, then I have the power to affect that in that case. I'm not going to vote to punish someone because I wasn't able to do so for other cases. Sure, it would be better to get rid of vice laws and you might not agree with me. But I'm only going to vote to punish someone if I think they should be punished, regardless of what any laws say.
What happens when the person's principles include hating women and believing that in violent crimes with a female victim, she must have done something to provoke it in every instance so if the defendant is a male, he should never be found guilty? People who believe this actually exist and might be otherwise eligible to serve on a jury. Should they be allowed to nullify because they think a man should never be punished for assaulting a woman?
I know it's an extreme example but it's not a slippery slope because stuff like this actually happens. It's wild and is the reason why many lawyers and judges really dislike jury nullification.
I think that's a problem with jury trials in general, and even authority in general. Sometimes people who you disagree with strongly end up with the power to affect the lives of others. Jury powers, just as any others, can be abused. But they can also check abuses, like if a prosecutor is overzealous, a judge is biased, or lawmakers corrupt.
I think the best we can do is spread power out as much as possible and hope that people will ultimately prove to be good more often than bad, so that all of the maneuvering and countering people use their power for will trend more towards good. Any solution that concentrates power to keep it out if the hands of bad people has the footnote "assuming those who get that power are good and use it in good faith and don't change while they have power", which is not a safe assumption.
Definitely agree with you there. I just never like how simplistic people make jury nullification seem. It's really just a quirk in the legal system, not an actual thing juries are supposed to do and it gets abused a lot.
You're describing cops.
I was shot by a fascist. 11 people believed the evidence, one person was also a fascist. Did anyone need to tell the fascist about jury nullification? No. They don't care about the law and never have. That's the point. They already do it all the time. You should know that you can do it too.