“The fact that there is widespread existence of the jury’s prerogative, and approval of its existence as a ‘necessary counter to case-hardened judges and arbitrary prosecutors,’ does not establish as an imperative that the jury must be informed by the judge of that power.”<br />
<br />
–UNITED STATES v. DOUGHERTY (1972) U.S. COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT. 473 F.2d 1113 (1972)<br />
<br />
"Ricardo Cortés is an author & illustrator of books, including Go the Fuck to S leep, I Don’t Want to Blow You Up!, It’s Just a Plant, and the forthcoming Coffee, Coca & Cola."<br />
<br />
[via: http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/06/jury-nullification ]

"Juries do not only decide guilt or innocence; they can also serve as checks on unjust laws. Judges will not tell you about your right to nullify—to vote not guilty regardless of whether the prosecution has proven its case if you believe the law at issue is unjust. They may tell you that you may only judge the facts of the case put to you & not the law. They may strike you from a jury if do not agree under oath to do so, but the right to nullify exists. There is reason to be concerned about this power: nobody wants courtroom anarchy. But there is also reason to wield it, especially today: if you believe that nonviolent drug offenders should not go to prison, vote not guilty. The creators of…"The Wire" vowed to do that a few years back ("we will...no longer tinker w/ machinery of the drug war," [they] wrote)…"<br />
<br />
[See also: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1719872,00.html AND http://fija.org/ ]<br />
<br />
[via: http://twitter.com/charlesdavis84/status/85402352378589184 ]

"His prosecution is evidence that our moral order has been turned upside down. The bankers & swindlers who trashed the global economy & wiped out some $40 trillion in wealth amass obscene amounts of money, much of it provided by taxpayers. They do not go to jail. Regulatory agencies, compliant to the demands of corporations, refuse to impede the destruction unleashed by the coal, oil & natural gas companies as they turn the planet into a hothouse of pollutants, poisoned water, fouled air and contaminated soil in the frenzied quest for greater and greater profits. Those who manage and make fortunes from pre-emptive wars, embrace torture, carry out extrajudicial assassinations, deny habeas corpus and run up the largest deficits in human history are feted as patriots. But when a courageous citizen such as DeChristopher peacefully derails the corporate and governmental destruction of the ecosystem, he is sent to jail."

[via: http://twitter.com/joguldi/status/83042584490029056 ]

"Universities are elitist: they are about selecting the most able cohort of a generation and educating them to their ability—breaking open the elite and making it consistently anew. Equality of opportunity and equality of outcome are not the same thing. A society divided by wealth and inheritance cannot redress this injustice by camouflaging it in educational institutions—by denying distinctions of ability or by restricting selective opportunity—while favoring a steadily widening income gap in the name of the free market. This is mere cant and hypocrisy."<br />
<br />
[via: http://www.gyford.com/phil/writing/2011/05/03/easter-reading.php ]

"Reminder: the drive for a 40-hour week was a drive on behalf of democracy. When in crisis-mode, we generally jump onto sound bites uttered by personally convincing authorities. We use metaphors which help us understand complexity and then ignore the flaws inherent in our oversimplifications...