- Joined
- Apr 22, 2019
- Messages
- 46,502
- Reaction score
- 22,695
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Progressive
The name for when a jury ignores the facts, ignores the law, and claims the outcome in opposition to the facts and law presented to them to get the result they want, is "jury nullification".
They're nullifying the accurate result.
There can be good or bad reasons for them to do so.
The main good reason is when the law is wrong. If there's a segregationist law saying blacks can't eat at the restaurant, and a black person is charged with eating there, and the jury feels the law is wrong, then in spite of the defendant being clearly proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have violated the law, they vote them not guilty because they feel that's justice.
There is no law regarding their doing that: it's basically an act of civil disobedience. In fact, if it's suspected they might, the law allows them to be questioned on their view of jury nullification and prevented from being a juror if they have any sympathy for it. The law has no tolerance for it, though I've never heard of it being a crime, IIUC.
The bad reason is when they have another motive than justice, or a misguided view of justice. The classic example is when all-white juries in the south would never find a white defendant for violence against a black person, no matter the facts. That was simply denying black people justice, as racism. That wrong behavior is analogous to what Republicans are expected to do on impeachment.
They're nullifying the accurate result.
There can be good or bad reasons for them to do so.
The main good reason is when the law is wrong. If there's a segregationist law saying blacks can't eat at the restaurant, and a black person is charged with eating there, and the jury feels the law is wrong, then in spite of the defendant being clearly proven beyond a reasonable doubt to have violated the law, they vote them not guilty because they feel that's justice.
There is no law regarding their doing that: it's basically an act of civil disobedience. In fact, if it's suspected they might, the law allows them to be questioned on their view of jury nullification and prevented from being a juror if they have any sympathy for it. The law has no tolerance for it, though I've never heard of it being a crime, IIUC.
The bad reason is when they have another motive than justice, or a misguided view of justice. The classic example is when all-white juries in the south would never find a white defendant for violence against a black person, no matter the facts. That was simply denying black people justice, as racism. That wrong behavior is analogous to what Republicans are expected to do on impeachment.