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Judges specifically filter out for people who know about jury nullification. I suspect the entire systems subconsciously also filters FOR and AGAINST certain ty

by dlwdlw 8y ago

Judges specifically filter out for people who know about jury nullification. I suspect the entire systems subconsciously also filters FOR and AGAINST certain types of people in service of whatever the narrative of the time was. The people who speak out about injustice who have been part of the system are allies. If you expect perfect allies, then you make no change.

black_puppydog 8y ago
> Judges specifically filter out for people who know about jury nullification. I guess you mean subconsciously? Directly asking someone if they know about jury nullification, then rejecting them on whatever grounds would intuitively sound very fishy to me. Rejecting them explicitely for knowledge of jury nullification would sound to me like a direct attack on the jury system itself. And I don't know how to find out if someone knows about it without asking them... Then again, I'm not a lawyer.
- kasey_junk 8y ago
  There is case law suggesting that jurors can be removed if you suspect they are going to nullify the law. There is also case law supporting jury instructions against nullification and for preventing defense attorneys from using it as a tactic. I'd go so far as to say that there is an explicit bias against jury nullification in the courts system. The wikipedia article is particularly weak on this subject, but the reference list is good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#United_Stat...
- lozenge 8y ago
  Juries' decisions have to be respected regardless of their reasoning, which is how "jury nullification" arose. However, they are supposed to only determine matters of fact (ie whether the defendant did something, rather than whether the law is just) and judges can deselect people who they don't trust to give an honest verdict based on fact alone. So, judges deselecting such people is actually preserving the jury system, not attacking it.
- ergothus 8y ago
  See my other comment where a judge explicitly asked me about jury nullification. I know of no reason they can't ask, and voir dire allows both prosecution and defense the option to exclude some potential jurors without saying why.

by dlwdlw 8y ago

black_puppydog 8y ago

> Judges specifically filter out for people who know about jury nullification. I guess you mean subconsciously? Directly asking someone if they know about jury nullification, then rejecting them on whatever grounds would intuitively sound very fishy to me. Rejecting them explicitely for knowledge of jury nullification would sound to me like a direct attack on the jury system itself. And I don't know how to find out if someone knows about it without asking them... Then again, I'm not a lawyer.

kasey_junk 8y ago
There is case law suggesting that jurors can be removed if you suspect they are going to nullify the law. There is also case law supporting jury instructions against nullification and for preventing defense attorneys from using it as a tactic. I'd go so far as to say that there is an explicit bias against jury nullification in the courts system. The wikipedia article is particularly weak on this subject, but the reference list is good: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification#United_Stat...
lozenge 8y ago
Juries' decisions have to be respected regardless of their reasoning, which is how "jury nullification" arose. However, they are supposed to only determine matters of fact (ie whether the defendant did something, rather than whether the law is just) and judges can deselect people who they don't trust to give an honest verdict based on fact alone. So, judges deselecting such people is actually preserving the jury system, not attacking it.
ergothus 8y ago
See my other comment where a judge explicitly asked me about jury nullification. I know of no reason they can't ask, and voir dire allows both prosecution and defense the option to exclude some potential jurors without saying why.