[Dean's World] Dave Price: How The Drug War Might End

[notify at powerblogs.com]

Posted by Dave Price:
How The Drug War Might End
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1201813766.shtml


   [1]Jury nullification.

     Jury nullification is a de facto and traditional power of juries,
     not normally disclosed to jurors by the system when they are
     instructed as to rights and duties. The power of jury nullification
     derives from an inherent quality of most modern common law
     systemsâa general unwillingness to inquire into jurors' motivations
     during or after deliberations. A jury's ability to nullify the law
     is further supported by two common law precedents: the prohibition
     on punishing jury members for their verdict, and the prohibition on
     retrying defendants after an acquittal; and the constitutional
     prohibition on retrying criminal defendants (see related topics res
     judicata and double jeopardy).
     ....
     Nevertheless, there is little doubt as to the ability of a jury to
     nullify the law.
     ...
     Nullification in practice
     Nullification has a mixed history in the United States. Jury
     nullification appeared in the pre-Civil War era when juries
     occasionally refused to convict for violations of the Fugitive
     Slave Act. However, during the Civil Rights era, all-white juries
     were known to refuse to convict white defendants for the murder of
     blacks.[13] During Prohibition, juries often nullified alcohol
     control laws,[14] possibly as often as 60% of the time.[15] This
     resistance is considered to have contributed to the adoption of the
     Twenty-first amendment repealing the Eighteenth amendment which
     established Prohibition.

   This argues that the government must go to great lengths to ensure
   that [2]use of illegal drugs is stigmatized so that juries do not
   nullify, and also hope that juries are generally unaware of their
   power to nullify.
   I don't think people should abuse illegal drugs, but the "cure" of
   curtailing our rights and using the State to violently incarcerate
   those who choose to ingest illegal drugs appears to be significantly
   worse than the disease.

References

   1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jury_nullification
   2. http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=4081