Jury Rights & Jury Nullification
Amendment VI of the Federal Constitution:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial,
by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature
and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of
Counsel for his defense.
The Words of the Founding Fathers
Jurors should acquit, even against the judge's instruction...
if exercising their judgement with discretion and honesty
they have a clear conviction the charge of the court is wrong.
-- Alexander Hamilton, 1804
It is not only the juror's right, but his duty to find the verdict
according to his own best understanding, judgement and conscience,
though in direct opposition to the instruction of the court.
--John Adams, 1771
I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man
by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.
-- Thomas Jefferson, 1789
It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made
by men of their choice, if the laws are so voluminous that they
cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood;
if they... undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows
what the law is today can guess what it will be tomorrow
-- James Madison
You as a juror have the power to control government, and change bad laws. Many laws which are statutes and ordances are only "color of law" what that means is it's a law that takes away an individual's Right's garuanteed by a legal document called the "Constitution" To be called for jury duty is not something to get out of, but an oppertunity to change bad laws. Sure it takes your time and you don't get paid much, but you might be bringing true justice to an otherwise un-just system. Here's a few links on the subject... http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/1/CRB.htm http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7006/rulebook.html http://www.wealth4freedom.com/truth/chapter10.htm "In a civil society, the myth of justice serves two related -- if contradictory -- purposes. On one hand, ordinary people need the myth to give them hope against the powerful. On the other, the powerful require ordinary people to believe in the myth because it keeps the rabble complacent.
A belief in justice -- even an erroneous belief -- can be the line that separates gentility from riots in the streets.
Even in these days of cynicism, there has still existed a flame of optimism about the power of ordinary people in the courtroom. The belief is so strong that some advocates of limited government have built their main hope upon it. The constitutionalists -- loosely, the legal researchers, sovereign citizens and pro se litigants who seek to limit the influence of government -- have spent endless hours and endless dollars building cases for, and on, the law.
These hopeful Good Citizens have cherished the belief that they could go into court, present their arguments and (if those arguments proved intellectually, historically and constitutionally correct) prevail against institutionalized injustice. Not only prevail, personally, but return America to a land of limited government and individual rights. With that hope, and armed with reams of legal documents, many have besieged courts and other government agencies. " (from link above) If you want justice for your fellow man then do your best to get selected as a juror. who knows it might be you before the court one day... Acadian