cannabisnews.com: When a Jury Should Just Say No When a Jury Should Just Say No Posted by CN Staff on February 19, 2003 at 06:59:52 PT By Judith Appel, Alexandra Cox Source: San Francisco Chronicle Jurors should acquit, even against the judge's instruction . . . if exercising their judgment with discretion and honesty they have a clear conviction the charge of the court is wrong. It is a long-standing precept that juries act as the collective "conscience of the community" -- hearing the facts of a case and applying them to laws developed through the democratic process. Serving on a jury is a fundamental civic duty -- right up there with voting -- and as such sits at the heart of our democracy. Yet, when members of a federal jury late last month convicted medical marijuana activist Ed Rosenthal without being able to consider that he was growing pot to be used as medicine under California's Proposition 215, the integrity of our system of justice was seriously threatened. Hours after the jury voted to convict Rosenthal, the majority of them renounced their decision as, in the words of one juror, a "horrible mistake." The clear discordance between the jurors' beliefs and their verdict forces us to question the validity of the Rosenthal trial. It's not just that the majority of the jurors didn't want to see Rosenthal imprisoned for the federal mandatory minimum term of five years; they think that his actions should not have been criminalized at all. Jury nullification -- or the jury's ability to acquit the defendant if the jurors have no sympathy for the government's position -- is a right afforded to all juries, firmly grounded in the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and deeply ingrained in American history. It is, in short, an expression of the "conscience of the community." In the early years of the republic, jury nullification was a popular means through which communities voiced their opposition to criminal laws. It led to an acquittal for William Penn for unlawful assembly in 1670 and for draft resisters during the Vietnam War. Note: Judith Appel and Alexandra Cox work for the Office of Legal Affairs for Drug Policy Alliance -- http://www.drugpolicy.org -- which promotes alternatives to the war on drugs. Snipped: Complete Article: http://www.freedomtoexhale.com/aco.htm Source: San Francisco Chronicle (CA)Author: Judith Appel, Alexandra Cox Published: Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Copyright: 2003 San Francisco Chronicle - Page A - 23 Contact: letters sfchronicle.comWebsite: http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/Related Articles & Web Site:Ed Rosenthal's Pictures & Articleshttp://freedomtoexhale.com/trialpics.htmRosenthal is Guilty -- for Helping Those in Needhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15474.shtmlHow The Feds Duped Jurors in Marijuana Trial http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15432.shtml Trust-Buster -- Ashcroft Kicks The Dog Once Again http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread15461.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Post Comment