Jury Nullification

Jury Nullification

David C. Divine

CJA/344

October 2, 2014

Michelle Mann

Jury Nullification

There is a major court case in Orlando, Florida in which you were selected as a juror. The case is about a murder of a young boy that wrecked the small town. The legal battle was immense by both the defense and the prosecution, to a degree at one point the judge almost had to call the case a mistrial. Before the jury went into deliberation, the judge advised the jurors with strict guidance on the law. The jurors understood and also remembered garble that was said by both attorneys during the case. Even though the judge provided ample instruction, the evidence was overwhelming for the defendant, and because of that the case resulted in a different outcome. “Jury nullification permits juries to acquit even when the facts of the case suggest they convict, and thus enables citizens to play a more active role in determining justice and what/whom should be punished” (McNamara & Burns, 2009, 11, Jury Nullification).

Ethnicity Influences in Courtroom Proceedings and Judicial Practices

In early history crime fighting in the United States was mainly fought by the white populace, as in those days African Americans did not have many if any rights. This started a trend in the criminal justice system whereas prosecutorial and judicial chauvinism became the fashion. Over the years the United States developed and inspired creative amendments with the due process and other pertinent reforms that made racism unconstitutional. Although there has been a great improvement there are still tensions with judicial practices. Cases of improvements take into account of a finer judicial system that includes a supplementary diverse ethnic representation, and more equal line of judgment between the indigenous groups. There is still today conflicting results when comparing the practices between black and white judges as when they bench against another ethnic group as they are not being fair when it comes to the sentencing phase of the trials. Other areas of concern are the war on gangs, and the war on drugs inside the courtrooms that demonstrate how strategies and the court choices centered on them may be racialized, gendered, and categorized.

Arguments for Ethnicity-based Jury Nullification

Simply put, it promotes impartial hearings and keeps the guilty imprisoned. To wit, arguments for ethnicity-based jury nullification is that a “greater diversity promotes greater cultural sensitivity