Title: Jury Nullification in the Criminal Justice System
Rhetorical Purpose: To inform about the concept of Jury Nullification and its application in our nation’s Criminal Justice System.
Thesis:
In the United States Criminal Justice System jury nullification is a concept used by jurors, that can give them a means to apply laws justly to each case when otherwise the laws would be too objective, and can have real impacts on many aspects of our society.
Introduction
Attention Getter:
Martin Luther King Jr.: “I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”
Audience Connection:
Jury Nullification is by Cornell University as a jury’s knowing and deliberate rejection of the evidence or refusal to apply the law because the result dictated by law is contrary to the jury’s sense of justice, morality, or fairness.
So why does it matter? Each of us are all citizens who are likely to serve jury duty at some point. It is important to know that the jurys play an important rule in our nations sense of morality and justice and just because its law doesn’t mean its black and white. Jury nullification is a tool that can be used to promote justice, democracy, and morality.
Thesis:
In the United States Criminal Justice System jury nullification is a concept used by jurors, that can give them a means to apply laws justly to each case when otherwise the laws would be too objective, and can have real impacts on many aspects of our society.
Body
I. Jury Nullification and How it is used
a. As Journalist Ilya Somin writes in the washington post, “The case for jury nullification today is strengthened by the growth of modern criminal law, which has expanded to the point where almost all of us are guilty of some crime or other.”
b. With the already provided cornell definition, Jury Nullification is essentially the right for jurors to check the misapplication of any particular value or law against the defendant.
c. Our laws are not black and white and can therefore not be applied fairly to every case. They are sometimes too objective, which is the statement Somin is trying to make.
d. When using Jury nullification, the jury recognizes that a crime may have been committed but that the law itself was unjust and should therefore be situationally nullified.
e. Jury Nullification is important because it adds an additional level of analysis to the court room and gives jurors a way to uphold justice and fairness in the face of unjust or unjustly applied laws.
II. The law is objective and cannot always be applied in the way that best supports justice
a. Daryl K. Brown “Jury Nullification within the Rule of Law”- Minnesota Law Review 2013: “Law and Justice are from time to time inevitably in conflict. That is because law is a general rule while justice is the fairness of this precise case under all its circumstances. The rule of law only takes account of broadly typical conditions, and is aimed at average results. Law must be enforced with the exact terms of the rule, justice or no justice. ‘All Persons are Equal before the Law’; this solemn injunction, in large letters is painted on the wall over the judge’s bench in every court so that the judge must apply the law as he finds it alike for all. Now this is where the jury comes in. The jury adjusts the general rule of law to the justice of the particular case. That is what jury trials do. It supplies that flexibility of legal rules which is essential to justice.”
i. Law and justice innevitably conflict means that law is not always what equals justice
ii. The Judge has to uphold the rule of law, but the jurors and tools like jury nullification provide a means of justice where the law fails.
iii. Promotes justice and democracy through our society
III. Jury Nullification and why it implies to any of us
a. Van Dyke and Alan Scheflin (Santa Clara University School of Law). “Jury Nullification: The Right to Say No: One of the most significant principles of democracy calls for the involvement or participation of the “man in the street”. The “man in the street” becomes the “man in the jury box,” and as such sits as the representative of the community in question. As the embodiment of the “conscience of the community” he legitimizes and effectuates the decisions made through the judicial process. If the “man in the jury box” is to fulfill his role as the representative of the “conscience of the community,” participating effectively in the making of public policy, then he must possess the power and the right to check the “misapplication” of any particular value distribution.”
i. What this means to us is that as citizens and humans who live in this, the united states, we have to know our rights and our laws and be able to stop them if they are unjust or are being applied unjustly.
ii. In the Criminal Justice System, the rule of law must be upheld, however; the jury allows the flexibility and subjectivity to uphold justice.
iii. Tools like jury nullification are vital, and as citizens, it is important to be educated about our rights and laws.
IV. Conclusion
a. Jury nullification is the deliberate refusal to apply the law because it contradicts with the Jury’s sense of justice, fairness, or democracy. It is necessary because the rule of law is objective- black and white- so it cannot always be applied fairly to every case. Jurys and constitutional rights like jury nullification help promote justice in our society. This is applicable and important to all of us simply because we are citizens -who have to live under the laws of the Criminal Justice System- who could be accused unjustly or who could serve jury duty on any day. So knowing these rights and being informed on our system is vital.
b. What do you think? Does this Truly apply to you?
i. Does Jury nullification seem fair and beneficial?
ii. Are you informed on our systems regulations, rules, and laws?
iii. Do you think that upholding justice is important? Does Jury nullification help?
iv. All of these are questions that you have to research and answer for yourself so you can be an informed citizen.
c. Thesis: In the United States Criminal Justice System jury nullification is a concept used by jurors, that can give them a means to apply laws justly to each case when otherwise the laws would be too objective, and can have real impacts on many aspects of our society.
References
Alan Scheflin and Jon Van Dyke, Jury Nullification: The Right to Say No , 45 S. Cal. L. Rev. 168 (1972), http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/facpubs/686/
Brown, D. K. (2013). Http://ljournal.ru/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/d-2016-154.pdf. doi:10.18411/d-2016-154
Jury Nullification Definition. (2009, September 23). Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/jury_nullification
N. (2013, November 04). Jury Nullification: Acquitting Based On Principle. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=242990498
Somin, I. (2015, August 07). Opinion | Rethinking jury nullification. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2015/08/07/rethinking-jury-nullification/?utm_term=.cb01ed39eac0
Radley Balko This article originally appeared on FoxNews.com on August1, 2005. (2005, August 01). Justice Often Served by Jury Nullification. Retrieved September 18, 2017, from https://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/justice-often-served-jury-nullification