[Jury Nullification] is when the jury in a criminal trial gives a verdict of not guilty even though they think a defendant has broken the law. The jury’s reasons may include the belief that the law itself is unjust

Until the wealthy and powerful are held to account, why punish your fellow everyday citizens? Use your brain. Decide if what they’re charging people with is suppression or actually keeping society safe.

When those prosecutors start losing these cases, maybe they will start to rethink who they are focusing on.

  • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    21 hours ago

    That goes both ways, people can convict without evidence

    This doesn’t seem right… My understanding of jury nullification is that it ends with the charges being dismissed. I didn’t think it went both ways. Like, I don’t think a jury can say, “we know there isn’t evidence that this person is guilty, but we want to put them away anyway.”

    • spooky2092@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      19 hours ago

      They’re saying that a defendant can be convicted with minimal or circumstantial evidence. Because, much like they can decide the law shouldn’t apply when they think the defendant did it, they can decide the defendant is guilty even if the evidence doesn’t say that.

      • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 hours ago

        Ok… But is that really “jury nullification”? The word “nullify” implies that they are disagreeing with the law, so they choose not to enforce it. That can only go one way in this situation.

        Also, the judge would have to agree, as they have the authority to forego the jury verdict from guilty to not guilty (but not vice versa).

        It’s by no means a perfect system, but what is?

    • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      16 hours ago

      Like, I don’t think a jury can say, “we know there isn’t evidence that this person is guilty, but we want to put them away anyway.”

      The can, but if the judge isn’t a total douche, they would just overrule the jury. Not to mention, it could be appealed. The guilty version of nullification is much weaker.