After reading through many of the blog posts on jury selection and jury duty I found a link on Luke's post "It's Your Duty" describing ways to avoid jury duty. At the top of the list were the words "jury nullification" which linked to another website that I now have bookmarked and find absolutely amazing.
http://fija.org/ This organization known as the Fully Informed Jury Association has a wealth of information that is very helpful to jurors, and anyone else interested in researching information relating to jury selection and duties. On their homepage they offer a critical reminder of the true function of all jurors:
"The primary function of the independent juror is not, as many think, to dispense punishment to fellow citizens accused of breaking various laws, but rather to protect fellow citizens from tyrannical abuses of power by the government. The Constitution guarantees you the right to trial by jury. This means that government must bring its case before a jury of The People if government wants to deprive any person of life, liberty, or property. Jurors can say no to government tyranny by refusing to convict."
What is Jury Nullification, why does it exist and why will it potentially get you out of jury duty? Briefly jury nullification is the right of each individual jury member to render a verdict (or not render any verdict) in line with their own conscience regardless of the instructions from the judge. The FIJA website included a lengthy article written by Justice William Goodloe of the Washington State Supreme Court which articulately details the history of the right of jury nullification.
In 1670 two Quaker preachers (one of whom was William Penn, of Pennsylvania and Billy Penn University fame), in violation of the Conventicle Act which declared the Church of England the only legitimate religion. The jurors however, voted to acquit the men of the charges thus nullifying the power of the Conventicle Act. The judge became infuriated and jailed the jurors until they agreed to pay a fine. Eventually the jurors won a suit in the Court of Common Pleas and were released, thus beginning the history of the right of jury nullification.
Jury nullification became popular in the U.S. colonies when smugglers from Europe, bypassing England to avoid paying duties brought cheaper products to the markets. When captured by the English navy and put on trial the juror's (obviously citizens of the colonies) would acquit the smugglers of all charges since they were greatly benefitting them. To make a very long and interesting story short the right of jury nullification became the basis for future developments in the rights of free speech, religion, and the press; along with the foundational principles outlined in our very own Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. Our legal system has a series of checks and balances designed to protect us all against tyranny, as well as to guarantee us certain basic, and "inalienable" rights. The right of jury nullification is perhaps the first line of defense we all have against unlawful prosecution. Even if a person is clearly in violation of a given law, the jury can, if they believe the law is unethical, or unlawful, render a verdict of not-guilty in order to nullify that law.
It is obvious then that even mentioning this right in front of prosecution or defense attorneys during the voir dire process would 1- demonstrate that you have an understanding of the legal process that is most likely not exciting to them and 2- explicitly let them know that you are the type of person that thinks critically about your role as a juror and take your job seriously, recognizing that you will not feel compelled to render a verdict in line with what either lawyer wants.
I actually really enjoyed reading this article beacause I did not know really the background of jury nullification. I found it really interesting about how jury nulliifcation came to be, how colonists would acquit smugglers of all charges because they were benefitting from them. I also didn't know that a jury could nullify a law compeltely if they felt it was unlawful, this was weird to me because I just thought that they delt with the defendent's charges. This article also informed me of the two major reasons of why jury nullification is good and important because you don't want a juror who is not excited about the case or verdict and you also don't want someone who will never make up thier mind.