Educating the public about a jury's right to nullify

Educating the public about a jury's right to nullify

Educating the public about a jury's right to nullify
Did you know that jurors are allowed to follow their consciences, even
if that means that the final decision does not follow the law or the
judge’s instructions?

A jury’s right to nullify is something that is not taught in our schools. In fact, most citizens are unaware of this power.

Ellie Krieg, my daughter, recently wrote a detailed research paper about a jury’s right to nullify.

She wrote this paper for her senior-level legal studies course at
Grand Valley State University and received an “A” from one of the
toughest teachers in the program!

In this paper, Krieg discusses the story of University of Michigan student Jeffrey Pyne
being convicted of murdering his mentally ill mother. She maintains
that the outcome of the case may have been different if the jury was
informed of its right to nullify. She quotes legal television
personality Nancy Grace, who predicted that the jury would in fact
nullify the Pyne verdict.

In addition to reviewing the laws, precedence, and pros and cons regarding jury nullification,
Krieg also argues that our laws support the fact that jurors should be
instructed about their rights to follow their consciences.

"Jury instructions, and whether or not they inform jurors of the
right to nullify, can have an interesting effect on the outcome of
verdicts, and therefore, it is an important topic to address,” she
states.

“By allowing jury nullification, the court is placing a higher
emphasis on morality rather than the strict following of the law, and if
the court allows nullification, it certainly ought to inform jurors of
this.”

For more information, please go to the comprehensive research paper regarding jury nullification.


Source:-
http://www.examiner.com/article/educating-the-public-about-a-jury-s-right-to-nullify