[Tunehead54]

Two words will get you off: "jury nullification." But, now that I know about it, I WANT to get on a jury and use it. The trick will be not getting thrown off beforehand. It would be good if more people could manage to get on juries who know about jury nullification.

---

"Jury Nullification" - a tool for jurors to ignore the law and return what they consider to be a just verdict.

Its only correctly used to prevent an injustice - any other use invites anarchy.

Why would you hope to get on a jury to employ such a device without even knowing the facts of the case? Is no one guilty?

Save it for the important stuff.

[coloradan]

Jury nullification serves the vital purpose of allowing citizens a direct voice in law enforcement - it's part of the separation of powers, not between different branches of government, but between the government at large and the people at large. Don't worry, I won't return "not guilty" to someone who has obviously harmed another. But, for example, I would not convict someone giving slaves safe passage, even if it were clearly forbidden by law. Seems I would not be the first person to do so.