This Case Should Be Nullified by The Jury
Adam Kokesh is to be tried soon for his Independence Day protest, which allegedly entailed the loading of a shotgun on Freedom Plaza in protest of the District’s overly restrictive gun laws.
As per the Constitution, he is to receive his speedy and fair (more speedy than fair at this point) trial on this charge. This trial has become a lightning rod for the idea of jury nullification. This is the method by which juries find defendants charged with violating unjust laws not guilty and, by virtue of that, making a protest that hopefully leads to the repeal of the offending law.
READ: Rand Paul introduces constitutional amendment to rein in lawmakers.
Though many great thinkers have spoken on this subject, the best by far is lawyer and radical anarchist Lysander Spooner, whose ideas were coincidentally used as justifications in the majority opinion of the Supreme Court’s D.C. v. Heller gun case.
“It is manifest, therefore, that the jury must judge of and try the whole case, and every part and parcel of the case, free of any dictation or authority on the part of the government. They must judge of the existence of the law; of the true exposition of the law; of the justice of the law; and of the admissibility and weight of all the evidence offered; otherwise the government will have everything its own way; the jury will be mere puppets in the hands of the government; and the trial will be, in reality, a trial by the government, and not a “trial by the country.” By such trials the government will determine its own powers over the people, instead of the people’s determining their own liberties against the government; and it will be an entire delusion to talk, as for centuries we have done, of the trial by jury, as a “palladium of liberty,” or as any protection to the people against the oppression and tyranny of the government.” -Lysander Spooner, Trial by Jury, 1852
Truly inspiring words that sum up both the utility and the morality of using juries to fight unjust laws in a Common Law system. Juries are the judicial vanguards of liberty and they must be used to the fullest extent possible. So if you ever get your draft notice that you have been conscripted to participate in the injustice system of this nation, you can always do your duty and fight for liberty at the same time. Hopefully, some jurors will be persuaded to do so for our dear comrade who is now a political prisoner in the District of Criminals.
