The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania celebrates Jury Rights Day!

The Libertarian Party of Pennsylvania celebrates Jury Rights Day September 5th to commemorate the 4 jurors who acquitted William Penn for illegally preaching about his Quaker beliefs in 1670. The 4 jurors were imprisoned for ignoring the trial judges instructions to vote for Penn's conviction. An English appellate court released the jurors from prison, establishing the libertarian principle that juries cannot be punished for bringing in the "wrong" verdict. The freedom of American jurors to vote according to conscience and to nullify bad laws can be traced to that landmark precedent.

Early American jurors frequently refused to enforce the acts of Parliament in order to protect the rights of individuals. In 1735 a New York jury acquitted John Zenger of seditious libel for publishing criticisms of a colonial governor, believing that Zenger had a right to print the truth. That jury had to ignore the instructions of the trial judge because it had been instructed that truth was no defense to the charge of seditious libel. We can thank independent juries for helping to establish freedom of the press on American soil.

Jurors in early America knew that if a criminal law was unjust, they could -- and should -- refuse to enforce it. They could vote their conscience, and as free citizens they were expected to do so. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." John Adams said, "It is not only [the juror's] right, but his duty ... to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court." The purpose of trial by jury, as the Supreme Court itself has noted, is to prevent "oppression by the government."

For more information on the libertarian principle of Jury Nullification (a juries power to nullify bad, unjust or unconstitutional laws) check out the Fully Informed Jury Association website at www.fija.org or Clay Conrad's book Jury Nullification: The Evolution of a Doctrine. Times have changed, the government has grown and subtly taken away many of our rights and freedoms. In our first 100 years judges would inform juries of their right to judge both the facts and the law itself, now trial judges leave out the part about judging the law. This subtle change in policy hides one of the most powerful rights of free people.

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