Jury Nullification Issue Is in Voters’ Hands
A measure on the November ballot would let defendants tell juries they can disregard a law if they don’t like it--a prospect that has the legal profession aghast.
Amendment A would let people accused of crimes argue that a law should not apply to their circumstances or that is has no merit.
Jury nullification is not a new concept: Juries refused to convict people who harbored runaway slaves before the Civil War or resisted the draft during the Vietnam War. But according to legal experts, no state has such a statute.
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