Dear John,
Yesterday evening, Stephen Miller forcibly denounced Jury Nullification on social media, addressing the consistent sympathy of juries to those protesting and resisting the White House's aggressive use of police and immigration officers. Miller whined that "the justice system depends on a jury of peers with a shared system of interests and values."
But the wave of unanimous acquittals this administration has faced prove precisely that shared values in a community can be an effective xxxxxx against state power. Miller's complaint boils down to personal outrage that most jurors do not agree with the laws he is trying to impose
We have seen similar outrage when juries reject laws criminalizing drug possession or firearm ownership. Infamously, communities in free states regularly protested and resisted the deportation of blacks to the south by slave catchers, and then refused to convict their peers who had rowdily resisted law enforcement. Similarly, different regions enforced prohibition to varying degrees as a direct consequence of local communities rejecting it.
This is exactly what Jury Nullification is all about, and Miller's frustration was very much the intent of early revolutionary Americans. Indeed, one of their core complaints against King George was his restriction of immigration. This is just how America works.
FIJA is proud of the work we've done over the last thirty six years to spread awareness of jury nullification to tens of millions of Americans. Laws are easy to sign on a sheet of paper with a tiny electoral majority, and that's precisely why jurors have the last say on what constitutes a bad law.
If you'd like to support FIJA's continued education campaigns, you can order our new set of stickers for your car or laptop. Or you can make a donation over this holiday season before the tax year ends.
