I’ve been reading a lot about jury nullification, and I get that jurors have the power to acquit someone even if the law technically says they’re guilty. But what I don’t get is—why is this something that exists, yet courts don’t allow it to be talked about during a trial?
If it’s a legitimate part of the legal system, why is it treated like a secret? Would a juror get in trouble for mentioning it during deliberations? And what would happen if someone brought it up during jury selection?
I’m just curious how this all works in practice. If jurors can ultimately do whatever they want, what stops them from using nullification all the time?
They don’t want you doing it. It’s the one last way you, as a citizen, can scrape a shred of authority away from a government hell-bent on doing things the citizens may dislike or disagree with. As long as people can be jurors then it will continue to be a level of power the government cant take away from you.