more on keep them ignorant -- ElcomSoft Jury Asks for Law Text - judge refuses

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Michael Bacarella <mbac () netgraft com>
Date: Sat, 14 Dec 2002 20:25:23 -0500
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Subject: Re: [IP] more on keep them ignorant -- ElcomSoft Jury Asks for Law
Text - judge refuses

The fact that the judge says it is not the jury's responsibility
to judge the law should not be confused with believing that it
is not the jury's responsiblity to judge the law.

The jury is the final safeguard built into our system to prevent
our citizens from being stripped of their rights by unjust laws.
You cannot punish a juror for voting with his conscience.

"Few history books give juries the credit they're due--for stopping
the Salem witch trials, for overturning slavery in state after state
before the Civil War, and for ending Prohibition--all by refusing to
convict because they thought the law itself was wrong."

"These days, trial by jury often doesn't accomplish all that it should.
And the usurpation continues: trial judges now falsely tell jurors that
their only job is to decide if the "facts" are sufficient to convict, and
that if so, they "should" or "must" convict. Defense attorneys can face
contempt of court charges if they urge jurors to acquit if they think the
law is unconstitutional or unjust. And self-defenders are usually stopped
and rebuked if they even mention their motives, or why they disagree with
the law, to the jury."

    -- "Jury Veto Power", from The Fully Informed Jury Association
       http://www.fija.org/abbrhope.htm

------ End of Forwarded Message

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