“Jury Nullification: The Secret You Need to Know”

If a jury believes a law is unfair or that a conviction in particular case would be unjust, they do NOT have to convict. Jury nullification is a long existing de-facto power (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification) of juries under common law since colonial times yet judges and attorneys are generally forbidden from informing jurors of this power. Indeed, prosecutors have arrested members of the Montana based Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) for handing out leaflets on the courthouse steps informing citizens about jury nullification. Absent an attempt to influence a specific juror, prosecution attempts to muffle advocates of jury nullification generally fail on First Amendment Free Speech grounds, most recently in 2012 by a U.S. District Judge in Manhattan (firstamendmentcenter.org/court-tosses-out-charges-against-jury-nullification-proponent).