Legalizing Weed Via Jury Nullification

Among the numerous disconnects between the American people and their government in the second decade of the 21st century is the issue of marijuana.

At a time when the federal government is cracking down on legal medical marijuana -- and a record number of young people (mostly black and brown) are getting busted for weed in New York City -- a recent Gallup poll shows a record high of 50% of Americans wanting to legalize it.

A concurrent CBS poll shows that 77% of Americans want medical marijuana to be legal, whether or not it's used for medical purposes.

Yet, as Americans increasingly support legal marijuana -- for both medical and non-medical use -- people are being arrested for possessing it -- legal or not -- in record numbers.

Former federal prosecutor and George Washington University law professor Paul Butler has a simple solution to the problem of overzealous marijuana prosecution:  if you're ever on a jury in a marijuana case, he says, vote "not guilty", even if you think the defendant smoked weed or sold it to another adult.

The tactic is called "jury nullification," and it's perfectly legal. (You may have heard of it in the context of the right wing's so-called "pro-life" movement.)

As a juror, you have the power of nullification under the Bill of Rights.  Exercising it is part of a proud American tradition of jurors who used their decision-making role to help make our legal system fairer.

The post from Alternet.