Document Type
Article
Publication Title
University of Chicago Law Review
Publication Date
1998
ISSN
0041-9494
Page Number
433
Keywords
jury nullification, criminal law, constitutional law, voir dire, nullification advocacy
Disciplines
Criminal Law | Law
Abstract
Jurors in criminal cases occasionally "nullify" the law by acquitting defendants who they believe are guilty according to the instructions given to them in court. American juries have exercised this unreviewable nullification power to acquit defendants who face sentences that jurors view as too harsh, who have been subjected to what jurors consider to be unconscionable governmental action, who have engaged in conduct that jurors do not believe is culpable, or who have harmed victims whom jurors consider unworthy of protection. Recent reports suggest jurors today are balking in trials in which a conviction could trigger a "three strikes" or other mandatory sentence, and in "assisted suicide," drug possession, and firearms cases. Race-based nullification is also a topic of current interest.
Recommended Citation
Nancy J. King,
Silencing Nullification Advocacy Inside the Jury Room and Outside the Courtroom, 65 University of Chicago Law Review. 433
(1998)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/779