Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, On January 13, 1999, Hae Min Lee looked forward to another eventful exciting day at Woodlawn High School. Sadly this was not any ordinary day when the afternoon came around and Hae went missing. This was undoubtedly a horrible tragedy but the evidence will strongly support that Adnan Syed is not guilty. The state's main evidence will strongly depend on the claims of Jay Wilds a criminal and he is known to change his story multiple times.…
Nullification is a doctrine that says that the states have a right to declare null and void any federal law that they deem unconstitutional. When Calhoun came out with South Carolina 's doctrine of nullification, President Jackson returned it with a strong proclamation against the nullifiers. However, while he did force a bill that allowed him to use armed forces to execute the laws, he did also encourage friends of compromise to prepare a bill the South would accept. South Carolina, in response, took back their first nullification doctrine, only to replace it with a second addressing the force…
Occupy Denver Eric Brandt is a white male in his late forties. He is 5’8” and 200 pounds, dressed in black shorts and a yellow shirt, with black font on it that reads “Fuck Bad Cops.” He is single and homeless. Eric is a former U.S Navy nuclear engineer. He has been to many countries and speaks four languages.…
A Professor of Law at George Mason University wrote an article about the jury nullification in the Washington Post. In it he focuses of various aspects that make this process so interesting and contradicting. The author give his personal view on jury nullification and his initial attitude toward it. Jury nullification can be seen as a two edged sword, because it is not applied on constant and consistent basis. The author, Ilya Somin agrees that it can curb unjust laws, however it can backfire.…
nullification allowed the states to nullify or reject any law they felt that was a violation to the constitution. Nullification was mainly pointed towards South Carolina because of their refusal to honor the…
Over the years, jury systems have precedent the way we reach a verdict based on the trial. Moreover, it has been proven that jury systems have shaped Americans to be self-governors (Document B). Evidence shows that in a twelve month period bench trials have only 65 percent of criminals that have been convicted and 87 percent of criminals have been convicted in jury trials (Document A). This proves that jury systems are able to prosecute more and deliver more justice than bench trials. To begin, I support jury systems based on open minded peers reaching a verdict, prevention of corruption, and civic participation/knowledge for citizens.…
Privilege is a special right granted to a specific person or group of people. Historically, whites have been more privileged and cannot relate with the mistreatment blacks have suffered through such as, slavery, lynchings, and Jim Crow laws. In “Reasonable Doubt and the Lost Presidential Debate of 2012,” black professor Kiese Laymon hopes to expose and educate white people about the hardships associated with being black through his imitation of a presidential debate.…
(Jackson, 294). The second reason was “Coupled with the uncontrolled right to decide what laws deserve that character, is to give power of resisting all laws’ for as by the theory there is no appeal” Secondly, Jackson states that the nullification of any…
The Secret Power of Jury Nullification Response In the Podcast “The Life of the Law, Episode 1, The Secret Power of Jury Nullification”, Shannon Heffernan explains the often overlook power of jury nullification in the U.S. court system. She defines nullification as, when a jury is convinced that a defendant is guilty but find the defendant innocent anyway. Heffernan provides examples of cases throughout history that aid the idea that nullification among juries can potentially benefit courtroom justice. She also weights its negative effects that cause potentially major injustices in courtrooms.…
The voters should realize that the judge has to make impartial decisions and serve the whole society and not those affiliated to one party. Every citizen should get some information about the…
There is cases that are presented that are not necessarily justifiable to what the law says its right and wrong and there can be many factors that play into why a certain individual in a special case may not be guilty even though there is clear evidence that the crime was committed. It gives the jury a chance to plug in the factors of who, what, where, when and why and to treat each case as its own. Having the responsibility to use your own judgment holds great potential in a jury system as well as having a wide variety of people from different backgrounds leads to having a wide variety of opinions in a…
The theory of Nullification is important to the United States history because it shows how the taxation and conflict between the northern and southern states laid the framework for the upcoming US Civil War which greatly impacted our country for many years. Secession in a way is the highest form of nullification, by directly leaving a federal body and country you are therefore nullifying all their laws to which you once had to abide.…
The rights granted by Constitution have a substantial impact on the lives of American citizens. Many of these rights such as the freedom of speech, to bear arms, and to decline to answering questions are very well known by the citizens and are used often everyday. However other rights granted by the Constitution are not as well understood yet still play a fundamental role in the liberties bestowed to Americans. Case in point, consider the 7th Amendment which issues the right to trial by jury and that no fact tried by a jury shall be re–examined. These rights granted by the 7th Amendment have a dramatic role within the predominate common law system of America and as such gives citizens privileges that are vital.…
The anarchy argument is refutable in that our nation, and its laws, was created as a “government of the people, by the people and for the people,” as Abraham Lincoln phrased it in his Gettysburg Address. If we are to take Lincoln’s words to heart, then our laws, which have been created by citizens, should also be interpreted by citizens in the jury when determining the guilt or innocence of a fellow citizen. Secondly, though there is fear of runaway juries, if nullification was brought out of the shadows this would not need to be a concern. If nullification was made legal and there were statutes passed about it, there would be limits placed on this power preventing juries from convicting or acquitting based on their…
Throughout the early 1900’s, women were viewed by society as inferior to men. Those of the female sex were expected to cook, clean, and only speak when spoken to. Susan Glaspell criticizes these concepts in one of the most well known forms of feminist literature, “A Jury of Her Peers”. The story’s central point focuses on the murder of John Wright committed by his wife Minnie as the Hales and the Peters investigate the crime scene. Despite the women finding valuable evidence substantiating the crime, their husbands viewed their discoveries as petty trifles that only women worry about.…