America’s criminal justice system must have more involvement by citizens.
America Needs More Jury Trials . . .
Chauvin-Rittenhouse-Smollett-
By: George Noga – February 6, 2022
One of the bright spots in American democracy is our jury system. Most Americans join me in believing that the juries got it right 100% of the time in the six recent headline-grabbing trials listed above. Juries are fallible, but they represent the best way to deliver justice and to check against government run amok. Unfortunately, today in America a jury trial is a vastly underutilized right. Instead of a jury system, we now have a plea system with 96% of criminal cases settled without a jury trial.
The right to a jury trial is the only right mentioned in both the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and more words are devoted to it than to any other right. The founders intended to put citizens at the beating heart of our criminal justice system. However, plea bargains, unknown to America’s founders, now dominate criminal cases.
Plea bargains are more problematic for our democracy than jury trials. Defendants often are coerced to plead guilty due to police and prosecutorial misconduct as well as plea deals cleverly designed to induce an innocent defendant to accept the proffered plea rather than to chance a trial and a much more severe sentence. Defendants often are overcharged to pressure them, even though the sluiced up charges would dramatically wither away in a courtroom. Plea bargains cover up police misconduct and relieve prosecutors from having to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
American juries have a long and glorious history. The Salem witch trials ended only after 52 straight acquittals and/or hung juries. Northern juries acquitted abolitionists charged under the Fugitive Slave Laws. Juries speeded the end of prohibition and acquitted protestors during the Vietnam War. Juries refused to convict LGTBQs charged with consensual sex under sodomy laws. The right of a juror to vote his conscience goes back over 1,000 years and is traceable directly to Magna Carta.
The right of a jury to vote conscience is traceable to Magna Carta.
In a trial, jurors can go well beyond determining the facts. They can choose to exercise their independent life experience, concept of justice, wisdom and beliefs. Following are some of the situations where a jury may choose to exercise conscientious acquittal and nullify a flawed law or prosecution: (1) the accused never intended to commit a crime; (2) an honest citizen acted in good faith; (3) vague or unknown laws; (4) the minimum sentence is out of proportion; (5) laws that shouldn’t exist; (6) law applied selectively or misapplied; (7) police/prosecutorial abuse; (8) overzealous enforcement; (9) reliance on paid informants; (10) victimless crimes; (11) matters of conscience.
America’s founding documents and system of government depend on citizens being involved in the criminal justice system. We need to rein in plea bargains to hold the government to account. Not everyone may agree with the outcomes of the trials of Chauvin, Rittenhouse, Smollett, Arbery, Potter and Holmes, but we all should be able to agree the juries discharged their duties faithfully. That is the American way.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Next on February 13th, an update about the worsening spending crisis.
Click here to join our mailing list
