absynthe–minded:

solarpunkcast:

thecringeandwincefactory:

trials-of-socrates:

errors-dot-albi:

thatscienceteacher:

theveganarchist:

stfuconservatives:

lesserjoke:

antigovernmentextremist:

gerrycanavan:

Jury nullification. Pass it on.

Jury nullification is so fucking important.

This is something that more people should be aware of, if only because (in many states, at least) defense attorneys are actually prohibited from mentioning it to jurors. The law allows a jury to return a “not guilty” verdict contrary to the facts of the case, but not for the defense to inform them of that power or to argue for its application in the current trial.

I didn’t know about this. Wow.

always reblog

This is SUPER IMPORTANT and also a good reason to show up for jury duty. You know all those laws you think are stupid? This is your chance to maybe do something about it. 

I…. I thought this was common knowledge… signal boosting this because it obviously isn’t!

Did not know this

Jury nullification in the United States has its origins in colonial British America. Similar to British law, in the United States jury nullification occurs when a jury in a criminal case reaches a verdict contrary to the weight of evidence, sometimes because of a disagreement with the relevant law.

extremely important: you cannot let the Judge know YOU know about this or you will not serve on that jury to even try this out.

You also shouldn’t tell anyone else on your jury that you know about this.

Juries can be replaced or changed if there’s suspicion of jury tampering. You can get in trouble for jury tampering, or be removed, or face consequences, if you and other jurors discuss nullification and someone tells the judge.

You can always say that you don’t believe there’s sufficient evidence of guilt. Stick to your guns. Your fellow jurors might hate you, but if a unanimous vote is needed, you might be the only thing keeping someone from going to prison unfairly.