Jury nullification : the evolution of a doctrine

Juries have been delivering independent verdicts in the interest of justice for over 800 years, serving as the final check on government's power to pass unjust, immoral, or oppressive laws that leave citizens at the mercy of sometimes jaded or corrupt courts and legislatures. This was what the Founding Fathers feared, and this is the reason why they guaranteed trial by jury three times in the Constitution - more than any other right. In Jury Nullification, author Clay Conrad examines the history, the law, and the practical and political implications of jury independence, examining in depth the role of nullification in capital punishment law, the dark side of jury nullification in Southern lynching and civil rights cases, and the purpose and legal effect of the juror's oath. This book should be of interest to historians, trial lawyers, criminologists, political scientists, and anyone interested in knowing how our criminal justice system works - and how to make it better.

Introduction. What jury independence is all about -- The origins of the doctrine. Pre-Revolutionary history -- Bushell's Case: recognition for jury independence -- Fox's Libel Act: British juries change the law -- Revolutionary times. Georgia v. Brailsford: a unanimous supreme court instruction -- The Fries Case and the Chase impeachment trial -- Jury independence in the state courts -- The development of the modern view. Resolving tensions between judge and jury -- The unconstitutionality of slavery: Spooner's influence on jury independence -- State legislative, judicial, and constitutional developments -- Sparf et al.: the Supreme Court rejects jury independence -- Vices, crimes, and the national prohibition act -- The modern era. State legislative, judicial, and constitutional developments revisited -- The Vietnam War cases: a preference for Sua Sponte nullification -- The current debate. Why juries still refuse to convict -- Political developments and renewed interest in independent juries -- Model fully informed jury act legislation -- Scapegoating the jury. The bigoted jury: acquittals in lynchings and civil rights murder cases -- The lynching cases -- The civil rights murders -- Can racist nullification be discouraged or controlled? -- The impartial jury: black victims, black defendants, and black jurors -- Inside the jury room: can jurors act responsibly when race is an issue? -- The capital jury. Early juror discretion in capital cases -- Furman and its progeny: resolving the disparities in capital sentencing -- The death-qualified jury -- Penry and the requirement of individualized sentencing -- The obligations of jury duty. Understanding the juror's oath -- The juror's oath in early American history -- What's a juror to do? -- The context of the juror's oath -- Other obligations jurors face -- The lawyer's challenge. Empowering the jury -- Theories and themes of the nullification case -- Voir dire -- Opening statement -- Presentation of evidence -- Closing argument -- Reconstruction of closing arguments in the Rodger Sless trial -- Summary. The role of the jury: a political question.