Jury Nullification

[bcholmes]

polyfrog and I were talking about jury nullification at wiscon. I wondered if jury nullification has its roots in British common law. Wikipedia seems to think it does.

Comments

[futabachan.livejournal.com]

I grew up in Pennsylvania, where much is made of William Penn's use of jury nullification and its subsequent role in the establishment of the Commonwealth. I've generally been fairly pro-nullification on the grounds that it serves as an additional check against fundamentally wrong laws (USA-Patriot, anyone?) -- and there isn't really a way to prevent it without also abrogating the right to a jury trial in the first place.