Your citizen superpower? Hint: No, it's not voting.

September 5th is Jury Rights Day. Believe it or not, as a citizen one of the most powerful weapons we have is our right to be part of a jury and be an informed juror.   

Back in college, I got my first jury duty summons. What I heard from my friends sounded like a well-rehearsed script. Apparently, it should have been common knowledge to me that no one wants to do jury duty.  Everyone told me basically the same thing:    

•  “Ugh! I hate jury duty. You should do your best to get out of it.” 
•  “I can give you some tips of what to say so you’re not chosen.” 
• “Just say this, that or the other and you won’t be chosen.”   

To my relief, I was not chosen that day. We were apparently not needed and were sent home.   But I was ready to do what my friends told me and do my best to get out of it had I had the chance!

Now, years later, much older and perhaps wiser, I see things under a different light.   

We all know that in the United States we have three separate but equal branches of government, right?     

• · The legislative (enacts the laws) 
• · The executive (implements/enforces the laws) 
• · The judicial (interprets the laws)   

Everyone knows this separation of powers and its purpose: If one branch gets too much power, the other branches check them and balance them.  What is little known is that all of this can be checked by us as individuals, by voting, and by jury duty.   

What? Jury duty checks these powers? How so?    

As a juror, you may be unaware of your immense power:  If you’re a single juror who considers the law being applied a “bad law” or “badly applied”, you can nullify that law by voting your conscience and refusing to convict. That power is called jury nullification. You nullify the law by way of the jury. It’s the ultimate form of check and balances.   

We can use that power to reverse all types of bad laws: Minors being sent to prison for non-violent first offenses, drug addicts being sentenced to mandatory minimum prison time instead of rehab, mentally ill people imprisoned instead of being treated. And there’s nothing any branch of government can do about it.   

Our Founding Fathers gave us that power. We the people have a right to use it. Unfortunately this is not taught in schools and it’s not told to jurors when you go to jury duty. As a matter of fact, attorneys can be found in contempt of court for telling you. That’s how much this power is feared.   

So this Jury Rights Day let’s spread the word about the power of jurors and how we can take back our judicial system. A good source is the Fully Informed Jury Association (fija.org) website for more information.  And share!   

Let me know your thoughts. Did you know about jury nullification? Did you buy into the “nobody wants to do jury duty” rhetoric? If so, where did that come from? What else can we do to spread the word?