About Me
"...trial by jury...the only anchor ever yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution...." ~Thomas Jefferson
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
"A people that value its privileges above its principles will soon lose both."
~ President Dwight Eisenhower
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s Liberty Teeth and keystone under independence…they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
~ George Washington
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
~Benjamin Franklin, 1759.
“Those who trade Liberty for security have neither.”
~ John Adams
“Jurors are judges…You cannot change the law. You will be instructed by his honor that you must follow the law. Yet in the end it is in your power, and yours alone, to do justice.” ~ Gerry Spence
The jury has an "unreviewable and irreversible power... to acquit in disregard of the instructions on the law given by the trial judge... The pages of history shine on instances of the jury’s exercise of its prerogative to disregard uncontradicted evidence and instructions of the judge; for example, acquittals under the fugitive slave law. U.S. v. Dougherty, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1972, 473 F.2d at 1130 and 1132. (Nevertheless, the majority opinion held that jurors need not be told this. Dissenting Chief Judge Bazelon thought that they ought to be so told.) "If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence... If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic or passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision." United States v. Moylan, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1969, 417 F.2d at 1006.
One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Those who hammer their guns into plows will plow for those who do not.”
~ Thomas Jefferson
"A people that value its privileges above its principles will soon lose both."
~ President Dwight Eisenhower
"Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s Liberty Teeth and keystone under independence…they deserve a place of honor with all that's good."
~ George Washington
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
~Benjamin Franklin, 1759.
“Those who trade Liberty for security have neither.”
~ John Adams
“Jurors are judges…You cannot change the law. You will be instructed by his honor that you must follow the law. Yet in the end it is in your power, and yours alone, to do justice.” ~ Gerry Spence
The jury has an "unreviewable and irreversible power... to acquit in disregard of the instructions on the law given by the trial judge... The pages of history shine on instances of the jury’s exercise of its prerogative to disregard uncontradicted evidence and instructions of the judge; for example, acquittals under the fugitive slave law. U.S. v. Dougherty, D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, 1972, 473 F.2d at 1130 and 1132. (Nevertheless, the majority opinion held that jurors need not be told this. Dissenting Chief Judge Bazelon thought that they ought to be so told.) "If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence... If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic or passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision." United States v. Moylan, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1969, 417 F.2d at 1006.
One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that “an unjust law is no law at all.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.