Jury_Nullification

Jury Nullification Jury Nullification Democracy in Action Men do not make laws. They do but discover them. Laws must be justified by something more than the will of the majority. They must rest on the eternal foundation of righteousness. That state is most fortunate in its form of government, which has the aptest instruments for the discovery of law. (Calvin Coolidge, to the Massachusetts State Senate, January 7, 1914) Introduction Democratic theory teaches us to govern by majority rules, while still maintaining minority rights. Jury nullification epitomizes this theory and brings the law back into the hands of the people. By subjecting the laws of our nation to the approval of the masses the interests of both the majority and the minority are preserved. The doctrine of jury nullification is the power of a jury to find a defendant innocent because they believe that the law itself is unjust, or is unjust in a particular application, and should therefore not be applied. In other words it allows the minority the opportunity to overrule the will of the majority. A Brief History of Jury Nullification Jury nullification dates as far back as the Magna Carte, in 1215. Then King jury, nullification, law, government, right, power, jurors, state, juries, minority, iowa, case, states, people, often, majority, legislation, john, democracy, nullify, laws, cases, trial, legislature, judicial, instructions, democratic, court, branch, believe, been, bar, true, st, position