Jury Duty

I believe in the principle of jury nullification. A juror has the right to judge both the fact and the law. If a law is unconstitutional, jurors should ignore it and they do not have to follow instructions given by the judge if they believe them to be unfair. Lawyers should not be punished for mentioning that jurors have this right.







I think that it is unfair to force potential jurors to answer such personal questions that have nothing to with the case. I think that all Voir Dire questions should limited to those which determine if a juror or someone the juror knows would stand to gain anything by a certain result in the case. Attorneys should not be allowed to choose or reject jurors based on their experiences, occupation, or beliefs. I think it is especially unfair to remove jurors because they have knowledge of some subject, such as science, so that this will be to their advantage if the preponderance of scientific evidence is in favor of the opposing side. I think that peremptory challenges should be limited to one for criminal cases and none for civil cases.

Jury duty should be strictly voluntary for law-abiding citizens. Compulsory service is banned by the 13th amendment. Jurors should be paid at least minimum wage as long as such laws exist.