NULLIFICATION

A CITIZENS GUIDE TO JURY DUTY

JURY

Congress Power to Make Criminal Laws

1.

The Constitution grants to Congress only limited powers to make criminal laws. These powers fall into five categories: Those made pursuant to express authorizations for four specific crimes (counterfeiting, piracies, felonies committed on the high seas

2.

3.

4.

Those made under the necessary and proper clause. Those made for the few tiny geographical areas over which Congress has exclusive Legislation. Those governing the military.

Two amendments to the constitution also contain specific authorizations to make criminal laws.

Necessary and Proper

to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution all Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States. So, Congress has the authority to make criminal laws enforcing the Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises To make criminal laws prohibiting the filing of false statements or claims in Bankruptcy Court

To make criminal laws forbidding the importation of slaves after 1808 Article II, Section 4 mentions impeachment of civil officers for, among other things, bribery, so by implication, Congress is authorized to pass a criminal statute prohibiting the accepting of bribes by civil officers of the

The main duty in the federal judiciary created in Article III is to conduct trials (in the limited category of cases which they are permitted to hear), and that means parties and witnesses must be required to tell the truth. So, it would be necessary and proper for Congress to make laws declaring perjury and lying under oath in federal court

IMPORTANT NOTE
Private

citizens would rarely, if ever, be in situations where these criminal laws would apply to them.

Federalist No.44, Madison said what is to be the consequence, in case the Congress shall misconstrue this part of the Constitution and exercise powers not warranted by its true meaning, I answer the same as if they should misconstrue or enlarge any other power vested in themthe success of the usurpation will depend on the executive and judiciary departments, which are to expound and give effect to the legislative acts;

Madison feared usurpations by Congress

Federalist No.44 (cont)

and in the last resort a remedy must be obtained from the people, who can, by the election of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers. (17th Para.) Hamilton said If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify. (6th Para.)

Defined Geographical Areas

Congress is authorized to exercise exclusive legislation in all Cases whatsoever over small defined geographical areas. The seat of the government of the United States [not to exceed ten square miles], forts, dock-yards, magazines, arsenals, and the like. This means that over these limited geographic areas Congress has the authority to make the full range of laws criminalizing murder, robbery, extortion, arson, rape, kidnapping, etc.

Defined Geographical Areas

It

is important to note that private citizens would not be affected by these laws unless they are inside the District of Columbia, military bases, dock-yards, and the like.

Regulation of the Land and Naval Forces

Congress is authorized To make Rules for the Government and the Regulation of land and naval Forces Under this grant of authority, Congress has properly enacted The Uniform Code of Military Justice, the criminal code which governs members of our military forces.

Regulation of the Land and Naval Forces

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

This covers all the standard criminal offenses plus additional crimes uniquely appropriate to those in the military: Failure to obey a lawful order Dereliction of duty Absent without leave Desertion Conduct unbecoming an officer, etc.

Regulation of the Land and Naval Forces

Again,

it is important to note that civilians are not affected by the criminal code which governs our military forces.

Amendments & Criminal Laws th

13th Amendment would authorize Congress to make laws criminally punishing those who keep slaves. 16th Amendment presumably authorizes Congress to make criminal laws to enforce the income tax. 18th Amendment (now repealed) authorized the Congress and the States to make laws criminally

Amendments & Criminal Laws

So, Congress criminal jurisdiction over private citizens under all Amendments is limited to those who keep slaves or dont pay income taxes (whatever income meant when the Amendment was adopted)

Usurpations

So! Much of the federal criminal code today consists of laws which are mere usurpations and deserve to be treated as such. They are not laws, because they are outside the legislative powers granted to Congress by the Constitution. Excepting members of the military, and inside the tiny geographical areas where Congress has exclusive legislation; Congress has no general

Usurpations

Thus, laws which purport to be of general application throughout the several States criminalizing acts respecting firearms, ammunition, hate crimes, environmental crimes, economic crimes, banking crimes, computer crimes, murder, kidnapping, narcotics, arson, extortion, etc.,

And Everybody Knew It!

Lest you think this is astonishing, remember that before the 18th Amendment was ratified in 1919, everybody knew that Congress didnt have the power to make laws criminalizing the manufacture or distribution of intoxicating beverages! Congress needed an Amendment to the Constitution to authorize them to make the laws

And Everybody Knew It!

But

today, Congress is lawless & filled with usurpers; and the federal prisons are filled with inmates convicted under unconstitutional laws.

A Remedy to Usurpations by Congress

When Congress makes a criminal law for which it lacks constitutional authority, the Executive Branch (in the person of the U.S. Attorney) has the power and the duty to refuse to prosecute the violation. If that check fails, the Judicial Branch has the power to declare the statute unconstitutional.

A Remedy to Usurpations by Congress

If the U.S. Attorneys and federal judges both fail in their obligations to enforce the Constitution Madison said in the last resort a remedy must be obtained from the people, who can, by the election of more faithful representatives, annul the acts of the usurpers

Alexander Hamilton

If the federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify.

Alexander Hamilton

Did you get that? Hamilton said that when our creature, the federal government, usurps power, WE are to judge the conduct by the standard of the Constitution, and WE are to take appropriate action to redress the injury done to the Constitution! This includes demands for impeachment, recall petitions, defeating faithless representatives in the next election, nullification by States, JURY NULLIFICATION, non-

JURY NULLIFICATION

In our Constitutional system of justice, there is a judicial body with more power than Congress, the President, or even the Supreme Court. Yes, the trial jury has more power than all these government officials. That is because it has the final veto power over all acts of the legislature that may come to be

The Power of the Jury

The

jury has the power to decide the issues of law under which the defendant is charged, as well as the facts. In our system of checks and balances, the jury is our final check, the peoples last safeguard

At the time the Constitution was written, the definition of the term jury referred to a group of citizens empowered to judge both the law and the evidence in the case before it. In the February term of 1794, the Supreme Court conducted a jury trial in the case of the State of Georgia vs. Brailsford. The instructions to the jury in the first jury trial before the

Definition of the term Jury

Chief Justice John Jay

Said, It is presumed , that juries are the best judges of facts; it is, on the other hand, presumed that courts are the best judges of law. But still, both objects are within your power of decision. you have a right to take it upon yourselves to judge of both, and to determine the law as well as

The American Courtroom

So you see, in an American courtroom, there are in a sense twelve judges in attendance, not just one. And they are there with the power to review the law as well as the facts. Actually, the judge is there to conduct the proceedings in an orderly fashion and maintain the safety of all

U. S. Court of Appeals

In 1972, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said that the jury has an unreviewable and irreversible power to acquit in disregard of the instructions on the law given by the trial judge

We recognize, as appellants urge, the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by the judge, and contrary to the evidence. This is a power that must exist as long as we adhere to the general verdict in criminal cases, for the court cannot search the minds of the jurors to find the basis under which they judge. If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused, is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which

Court of Appeals, District of Maryland

Jurors Must Know Their Rights!

You must know your rights. Because, once selected for jury duty, nobody will inform you of your power to judge both law and fact. In fact, the judges instructions to the jury may be to the contrary. The fact that there is widespread existence of the jurys prerogative, and approval of its existence as a necessary counter to case-hardened judges and arbitrary prosecutors, does not establish as an imperative

Supreme Court Ruling

The court ruled that although juries have the right to ignore a judges instructions on the law, they dont have to be made aware of the right to do so. So, if it is indeed, the jurors right to decide the law, then the citizens should know what their rights are. They need not be told by the courts.

Masters/Servants

After all, the Constitution makes us masters of the public servants. Should a servant have to tell a master what his rights are? Of course not, its our responsibility to know what our rights are! The idea that juries are to judge only the facts is absurd and contrary to historical fact and law. Are juries present only as mere

WE THE PEOPLE
We

The People wrote the supreme law of the land, the Constitution, to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. Who better to decide the fairness of the laws, or whether the laws conform to

Forget It No Way

The only four words necessary to summarize the unanimous consensus of state and federal judges on the idea of telling jurors about their power to nullify. Even while extolling the beauty and majesty of our commitment to the jurys constitutional role as a guardian against tyranny, no state or federal appellate court in decades has held that a trial judge is even permittedmuch less required to

Judicial Hostility

Judicial hostility to jury nullification goes well beyond the stone wall of silence erected around the jury box. Case after case has approved jury instructions actually designed to imply that jurors do not have such power at all, or to instruct the jury on the dimensions of their duty to the exclusion of jury nullification.

Judicial Dishonesty

Chief Judge Bazelon, current law on this topic is tantamount to a deliberate lack of candor. In one especially outrageous case, the jury deliberated for hours in a criminal tax case before sending the judge a note asking: What is jury nullification? The defendant was convicted shortly after the judge falsely told the jury that there is no

There by Design

The jury is there, by design, to prevent oppression by the Government and to protect against unfounded criminal charges brought to eliminate enemies and against judges too responsive to the voice of higher authority The jurys role as a check on official power is in fact its intended function. Nullification is every bit as lawful as

RESPONSIBILITY

This power point presentation was prepared by Paul Hales, 5th District Leader of Michigan iCAUCUS directly from the writings of Publius Huldah, lawyer, philosopher & logician. Strict constructionist of the U.S. Constitution. Passionate about The Federalist Papers (Alexander Hamilton, James Madison & John Jay), restoring constitutional government, The Bible, the writings of Ayn Rand, & the following: There is no such thing as Jew & Greek, slave & freeman, male &