You might rightly be wondering why such a hard-nosed anarchist wench such as myself is celebrating Jury Rights Day. While it is true that I seek to avoid the state and its deadly systems as much as possible and encourage others to do likewise, this is one area where I’m happy to make an exception—for reasons that should be clear, but just in case they aren’t, I’ll elaborate a bit.

The story of perhaps the first act of jury nullification relating to this country presents a fine example, and I will take the liberty of excerpting from FIJA’s press release (linked to above) in presenting it:

Friday marks the 338th anniversary of when jurors refused to convict William Penn of violating England's Conventicle Acts, despite clear evidence that he acted illegally by preaching a Quaker sermon. In refusing to convict Penn, the jurors ignored what they knew to be an unjust law. This is known as jury nullification.

By refusing to enforce what they knew was an unjust law, the Penn jurors served justice, and provided a basis for our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, religion, and peaceable assembly. For refusing to find Penn guilty, the judge sent four of Penn's jurors to prison. Their exoneration fixed forever the English and American doctrine that jurors have the responsibility to decide both matters of law and fact in any case before them. Individual jurors are the last line of defense for people who are prosecuted under bad laws by overzealous prosecutors and court officials.

The Founders intended that jurors would use their rights and responsibilities to judge the law and the facts in every trial, and do justice. The Sixth and Seventh Amendments were included in the Bill of Rights to guarantee that every person brought to trial has Juror Protection.

Juror nullification is integral to our judicial system. It is one of the "checks and balances" of justice required by a free society. An individual juror has the authority to stop an unjust prosecution by refusing to convict. No reason for the verdict is required. Most Grand and Petit Jurors do not know about their authority. Knowledge of this authority must be restored to protect us.

This story, along with others including The Whiskey Rebellion and other acts of defiance against tax collectors, shows the true intent of the founders of this country. Their intent was to acknowledge and protect individual liberty, coupled with a structure for judging individuals accused of wrongdoing in as fair and impartial a manner as possible. That the Constitution has failed so completely at upholding that goal does no disservice to those men—hope of creating and maintaining a better system has always been part of our nature. A document born of compromise had no chance of succeeding; and of course it wasn’t helped when Americans forgot their roles in pushing against the encroaching state, and allowed it to gather steamroller strength.

But all that is an aside, really—the point is that jury nullification provides a very real means for everyday individuals to push back against the state. Refusing to convict an accused person because the law he’s charged with violating is unjust or excessively punitive sends a clear signal to the politicrats. That too many judges and other politicrats are actively engaging in suppressing this means of communication not only betrays their desire to control the people, it shows that they no longer have a genuine interest in representing the wishes of their constituents—which is the backbone of this supposed representative republic.

It appears that, amidst the ongoing unquestioning patriotism sparked nearly seven years ago, some individuals are starting to see what this country has become. It is no longer of the people and for the people: the moneyed and politically powerful are colluding to put the “lower classes” back into chains via a number of means, including skimming the wealth of the nation into their pockets, dumbing people down with deliberately hobbled educational systems that have never been free in either sense of the word, and increasingly restricting individual choice across a wide swath of activities. Part of that educational morass includes hiding the light of jury nullification; it’s possibly the weapon they fear most, as it impacts both their ability to control and coll– steal from the people.

Can you imagine what might happen if individuals across the country started nullifying each and every anti-marijuana law on the books? Some might be willing to do that on medicinal grounds; others on the basis that no one has the right to keep another from putting things into his body as long as he harms no one while under its influence; and others on the grounds that the penalties for breaking these laws are ridiculously harsh. I can; and while I do not partake of the herb, I recognize each person’s right to make that choice for himself, and would joyfully celebrate a return to laws that leave peaceable individuals alone, and that reflect the change in thinking on this issue.

Can you imagine what might happen if individuals brought to trial on bogus weapons charges were declared innocent, as they should be under the proper interpretation of the Second Amendment? The vilification of peaceful weapons owners and the unjust, politically-motivated harassment of firearms sellers would cease. The BATF would be reduced to a more suitable acronym for their batty, anti-freedom crusading. One wrongly-identified target down, two to go!

Can you imagine what might happen if individuals arrested for straying outside the despicable “free speech zones” or simply being in the wrong place when a cop decides to go Rambo aren’t convicted of any crime, as should be a routine matter in keeping with the First Amendment?

All the police-state tactics seen at both conventions show that individuals across the political spectrum are not happy with the current system. It isn’t just visible to The Family and close relatives; staunch Democrats and Republicans recognize that things are breaking down. And those in power see it too; hence their increased efforts to try to control information, silence dissent, and clamp down on anything that smacks of resistance to their authority. Uninformed, docile juries help them enormously.

It seems to me that the best way to a freer society is to work through the coercive systems now in place. By that I don’t mean cooperate with them; I mean we can highlight the flaws, focus on the principles for those inclined to such presentations, and get to a more voluntary society without seeing a collapse of society giving birth to it. (Some days I’m less optimistic that change will come about this way.) The USSA government system has fairly effectively painted itself into a corner; and the pressure we’re seeing is a recognition of that by many, as I already said. With other means of expressing discontent becoming prohibited, it becomes that much more important to pop the cork on jury nullification—the built-in means of directly challenging unjust authority in any area of law. Also, as an effect of that stifling of other avenues of activism, I think nullification will become more acceptable, and more used—but people have to be aware of it to use it.

Rebellion was the fire in which this country was forged; and rebellion against coercive authority is the path to creating a freed, voluntary society. Jury nullification is an essential means of expressing this rebellion in a way that brings immediate, tangible results—which is one reason why it’s so feared. Besides, deep in my anarchist heart, there’s a deep sense of poetic justice in using this built-in feature of the current nation-state to help bring about its downfall.

I have been listening to more music from the 1980s of late ... living in the past, perhaps; but to me, a lot of the great rock anthems that spoke to my spirit fired that rebellious element I had yet to fully identify. This vid (the full version, but not of the best quality, sorry) is one of the best at sparking the spirit of rebellion:

[Direct link to the vid on YouTube]

I hope you enjoy it (or at the very least, grok the message even if the medium isn’t to your taste); and more importantly, that you help spread the word about jury nullification every time a suitable opening arises. It may well be our last hope of a peaceful pro-freedom revolution.