If you’re a prosecutor in Washington, DC at the moment, it seems like the five scariest words in the English language might just be: “Good jurors nullify bad laws.” That’s the message on an illuminated billboard that went up recently in a subway station near DC Superior Court, where prospective jurors might well see it. According to the Washington Post, prosecutors are worried enough to have asked judges in three cases in the past week or so to make sure that jurors had not seen the billboard.
Jury nullification occurs when a jury acquits a defendant they think is guilty of breaking a law they consider unjust or unjustly applied. In Canada, the most famous case of jury nullification is that of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who openly operated an abortion clinic in violation of Canadian law. He was repeatedly brought to trial and repeatedly acquitted by juries, which led directly to the law in question being struck down at last by the Supreme Court in 1988.
The Fully Informed Jury Association, an American organization whose name appears on the billboard, seeks to inform jurors about “their traditional, legal authority to refuse to enforce corrupt laws” and to encourage them to see this as “a peaceful way to protect human rights against corrupt politicians and government tyranny.” Scary stuff indeed, if you’re an ambitious prosecutor more concerned about your win-loss ratio than about any highfalutin notions of justice. The rest of us, I think it’s safe to say, could do with a little more protection from corrupt laws and politicians.
The Fully Informed Jury Association, an American organization whose name appears on the billboard, seeks to inform jurors about “their traditional, legal authority to refuse to enforce corrupt laws” and to encourage them to see this as “a peaceful way to protect human rights against corrupt politicians and government tyranny.” Scary stuff indeed, if you’re an ambitious prosecutor more concerned about your win-loss ratio than about any highfalutin notions of justice. The rest of us, I think it’s safe to say, could do with a little more protection from corrupt laws and politicians.