Thursday, December 3, 2009

CIVIC ACTIONS YOU CAN DO NOW!

Become a Fully Informed Juror


Judges now ask: "will you follow the law even if you disagree with it?" if you say no...you don't get picked.

This violates your Unalienable Rights as all political power is inherent in the people, we have the right to alter or reform government, to instruct government and to nullify any bad law.

It also violates the defendant of due process of law, and the right to a fully informed jury of peers.

The jurors have two main duties. First, they must determine from the evidence what the facts are. Second, they must take the law stated in the court's instructions, apply it to the facts and decide whether the facts prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt. See Sparf v. United States, 156 U.S. 51, 102-107, 15 S.Ct. 273, 39 L.Ed. 343 (1895); Starr v. United States, 153 U.S. 614, 625, 14 S.Ct. 919, 923, 38 L.Ed. 841 (1894).

The jurors have the power to ignore the court's instructions and bring in a not guilty verdict contrary to the law and the facts. Horning v. District of Columbia, 254 U.S. 135, 138, 41 S.Ct. 53, 54, 65 L.Ed. 185 (1920). ( Learn about Jury Nullification HERE )

But they should not be told by the court that they have this power. United States v. Krzyske, 836 F.2d 1013, 1021 (6th Cir.), cert. denied, 488 U.S. 832, 109 S.Ct. 89, 102 L.Ed.2d 65 (1988); United States v. Avery, 717 F.2d 1020, 1027 (6th Cir.1983), cert. denied, 466 U.S. 905, 104 S.Ct. 1683, 80 L.Ed.2d 157 (1984); United States v. Burkhart, 501 F.2d 993, 996-997 (6th Cir.1974), cert. denied, 420 U.S. 946, 95 S.Ct. 1326, 43 L.Ed.2d 424 (1975).

They should instead be told that it is their duty to accept and apply the law as given to them by the court. United States v. Avery, supra at 1027.


How A Jury Is Chosen:
Jury History

"If the law is just, juries will naturally rule on the facts of the case. The criminal nature of intentional physical harm to person or property, and theft of property, by force or fraud, is nearly universally agreed upon. The common law has little to fear from nullification. The problem arises only when legislators criminalize failure to obey their statutes, many of which (every tax statute, every gun statute, every drug statute, every registration and licensing statute) are themselves criminal. These statutes could not be enforced if juries were told of their age-old right and duty to judge the alleged law as well as the alleged law-breaker. May it become so." -- Bill St. Clair

Justice Often Served By Jury Nullification

Monday, August 01, 2005
By Radley Balko

In February of 2003, a California jury convicted marijuana activist Ed Rosenthal of growing marijuana, in violation of federal law.

What the jury didn't know — and wasn't allowed to hear — was that Rosenthal was not only growing the marijuana for medical patients, he was growing the stuff for the city of Oakland. After the trial, the jury was outraged. "'I'm sorry' doesn't begin to cover it," one told the New York Times. Said the foreman, "It's the most horrible mistake I've ever made in my entire life." FULL STORY

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