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Topic: Fully Informed Jury Association

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	The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA)
		FIJA believes that the jury is not only a dispenser of justice for the accused, but also a crucial part of the checks and balances of power in our system of government.
		The power of the jury to judge not only the evidence, but also the merits of the law itself, is central to its proper functioning as a judicial and political institution.
		In the Juror's Handbook, written by FIJA headquarters in Helmville, they plainly state that "the government cannot deprive anyone of 'Liberty' without a jury's consent." The Fully Informed Jury Association is on a mission to educate Americans of this "forgotten" power of the people.
	www.november.org /razorwire/rzold/08/0812.html (560 words)

	~~@Com~~~ FIJA: UTAH: Fully Informed Jury Association~~~~
		But juries are known for their conservatism, for their sincere intention to do a conscientious job for the sake of their own sense of justice and desire to protect their communities.
		Moreover, fully informed juries would reduce the demand for appeals, because it would soon become evident to defendants and defense attorneys that their chances of a successful appeal would be less after their case had been heard by a jury which could have acquitted despite clear evidence of guilt, but chose instead to convict.
		True, fully informed juries may reduce the conviction rate of minority-group defendants, but the high social benefit of having minority groups feel that the American justice system also works for them has got to be worth an occasional failure to convict.
	nowscape.com /fija/ut_2.htm (3970 words)

	ISIL -- New Hope for Freedom: Fully Informed Juries
		If the jury found the law to be wrong or wrongly applied, or that the defendant's rights had been violated during the arrest, it would often "veto" (refuse to apply) the law, and acquit, despite clear evidence of "guilt".
		Jury rights education has already reached jurors in victimless crime cases ranging from marijuana possession to tax-evasion, from seatbelt law violations to sales of "unapproved" nutritional supplements, and from "illegal" gun ownership to alleged poisoning of eagles by a Montana sheep rancher, many of them ending in acquittals.
		The American Jury Institute (Fully Informed Jury Association), is a national, non-profit, tax-exempt, educational organization dedicated to informing jurors of their right, power, and responsibility to reach a verdict according to conscience.
	www.isil.org /resources/lit/new-hope-fija.html (1677 words)

	Washingtonpost.com: In Jury Rooms, Form of Civil Protest Grows
		A hung jury is simply one in which the 12 men and women around the table disagree over whether to convict or acquit.
		The first jury deadlocked last March when a lone holdout, Shawn D. Walker of Silver Spring, said she thought Aron should not be prosecuted because she hired the killer at a time when she was emotionally overwrought.
		The right to trial by a fair and impartial jury is fundamental in America and rests on the belief that a jury may be the only shield between an individual and an overzealous prosecutor or a biased judge.
	www.washingtonpost.com /wp-srv/national/jury080299.htm (3484 words)

	Juror Information for The Courts
		It is the right and duty of juries to judge the facts, understand the law, the moral intent of the accused; the justice of the law, and to hold all laws invalid, that are, in their opinion, unjust or oppressive, and all persons guiltless in violating, or resisting the execution of, such laws.
		The American jury came with the English colonists to the New World and it was referred to from the beginning as "the palladium of liberty, the palace of liberty." It was something colonists took seriously, because it was about democracy.
		The petit jury is the one with which most people are familiar: one trial, open courtroom, prosecution and defense attorneys, rules of evidence, 12 jurors, unanimity, reasonable doubt, etc. A New York grand jury has 23 people.
	www.karisable.com /courtjur.htm (638 words)

	Fully Informed Jury Association Pamphlet
		In a trial by jury, the judge's job is to referee the trial and provide neutral legal advice to the jury, beginning with a full and truthful explanation of a juror's rights and responsibilities.
		FIJA believes "liberty and justice for all" won't return to America until the citizens are again fully informed of their power as jurors, and routinely put it to good use.
		The nation's Founders understood that trials by juries of ordinary citizens, fully informed of their powers as jurors, would confine the government to its proper role as the servant, not the master, of the people.
	quasar.as.utexas.edu /BillInfo/FIJAPamphlet.html (1497 words)

	Fully Informed Juries
		The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) is a non-profit educational association whose primary mission is to inform all Americans about their right, power and responsibility to judge the law itself, as well as the factual evidence, when serving as criminal trial jurors.
		FIJA also has other, related goals, such as ensuring that everyone charged with a crime is able to have his case heard by a jury, making sure that those selected for jury service represent the broadest possible sampling of the community, and keeping jury size as large as possible.
		FIJA is supported by tax-deductible contributions from individuals, donations from groups whose goals would be advanced if the jury system were working properly, and by foundation grants.
	www.mtssa.org /juries (536 words)

	American Jury Institute/Fully Informed Jury Association: Home
		As I am sure you know, the highest and best function of the jury is not, as many think, to dispense punishment to fellow citizens guilty of breaking the law, but rather to protect fellow citizens from tyrannical prosecutions and bad laws imposed by a power-hungry government.
		We sponsor educational seminars for legal professionals, publish commentary, develop and present Amicus briefs when the institution of the jury is at issue, provide interviews to the media, speak at functions and in classrooms, and of course distribute educational literature.
		FIJA is a public policy nonprofit, tax-exempt educational foundation under Section 501 (c) 3 of the Internal Revenue Code.
	www.americanjuryinstitute.org (828 words)

	American Jury Institute/Fully Informed Jury Association - Price of Liberty (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
		The intransient juror No. 4 in the Tyco case is drawing attention to the role of the jury, as evidenced by Elliot Blair Smith's USA Today column, Lone jurors sometimes hold key to final verdict.
		The jury is the final barrier between the police power of the state and the rights, property, freedom, and even the very life of an accused person.
		A holdout juror may well be performing a crucial constitutional and humanitarian role: defense of the rights of an unjustly accused individual against the prejudices, malice, or self-serving laziness of the police, prosecutor, and even the judge.
	www.thepriceofliberty.org /04/04/01/alerts.htm (382 words)

	Jury Nullification: What lawyers and judges won't tell you about juries by Sam Smith, Progressive Review
		The informed jury movement would like all states to require that judges instruct juries on their power to serve, in effect, as the final legislature of the land concerning the law in a particular case.
		Every jury in the land is tampered with and falsely instructed by the judge when it is told that it must accept as the law that which has been given to them, or that they can decide only the facts of the case.
		When a jury acquits a defendant even though he or she clearly appears to be guilty, the acquittal conveys significant information about community attitudes and provides a guideline for future prosecutorial discretion...Because of the high acquittal rate in prohibition cases in the 1920s and early 1930s, prohibition laws could not be enforced.
	emporium.turnpike.net /P/ProRev/juries.htm (3819 words)

	Lone Star Fully Informed Jury Assoc jury duty, nullification
		An accused party's rights to trial by jury, where government is an opposing party, includes the right to inform the jurors of their power to judge the law as well as the evidence, and to vote on the verdict according to conscience.
		Jury nullification is an important way to inform governmental representatives about the changing conscience and values of the community, free from special interest pressure.
		Lone Star FIJA is also working to change the law to allow the accused (and their attorneys) to tell juries (without challenge by the judge or prosecution) of their power to vote their conscience, and to prevent judges from striking prospective jurors because they disagree with the law.
	www.juryduty.org (887 words)

	Don Doig - Fully-Informed Juries (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
		America's Founders fully realized that the temptations of power would be too great to leave the definition of individual rights to the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government.
		FIJA's ultimate goal is to tell everyone the truth about the rights of jurors, whether or not laws requiring that judges "read them their rights" are ever passed.
		FIJA would require by state law that judges resume telling jurors about their right to vote their consciences when deciding on a verdict.
	www.context.org /ICLIB/IC28/DoigPls.htm (1076 words)

	Trial by Jury
		Jury nullification had been established in common law since 1670 when the English jury in the trial of William Penn refused to convict him for preaching Quakerism, and were imprisoned for doing so.
		In 1804, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase declared, "The jury has a right to judge both the law as well as the fact in controversy." In other words, the jury weighs not only the propriety of the law, but it sits in judgment on a human being who is the defendant as well.
		If the jury is seen to sit in judgment on other and unconsenting human beings, the procedure seems to be at odds with libertarianism because it is difficult to understand where a collective entity derives such a right if it is not assigned by the individual.
	www.zetetics.com /mac/trial.htm (1618 words)

	Fully Informed Jury
		“FIJA” is a national jury-education organization which both educates juries and promotes laws to require that judges resume telling trial jurors “the whold truth” about their rights, or at least to allow lawyers to tell them.
		FIJA believes “liberty and justice for all” won’t return to America until the citizans are again fully informed of their power as jurors, and routinely put it to good use.
		Because defense attorney Andrew Hamilton informed the jury of its rights: he related the story of William Penn’s trial --of the courageous London jury which refused to find him guilty of preaching Quaker religious doctrine (at that time an illegal religion).
	www.rightsofthepeople.com /features/articles/fully_informed_jury.html (1519 words)

	Do We Really Want a Fully Informed Jury? -NRA
		The awesome power of the jury developed from the fact that English monarchs, much to their chagrin, came to be considered subject to the law of the land like everyone else.
		The jury took their responsibility to hold the monarch within the boundaries of this law quite seriously and did at crucial moments pronounce offenders "not guilty" if the crown was overstepping God's justice.
		Therefore, juries are never told "by the way if you think this whole proceeding is a farce, you can always nullify it by acquitting the person being tried." Worse, juries are too often told to ignore the Constitution, the Bible or even their consciences when arriving at a decision.
	www.natreformassn.org /statesman/98/fijarely.html (731 words)

	Jury Nullification
		It was normal procedure in the early days of our country to inform juries of their right to judge the law and the defendant.
		Those patriots intended that the jury serve as one of the tests a law must pass through before it assumes enough popular authority to be enforced.
		Despite the courts' refusal to inform jurors of their historical veto power, jury nullification in liquor law trials was a major contributing factor in ending alcohol prohibition.
	www.greenmac.com /eagle/ISSUES/ISSUE23-9/07JuryNullification.html (1583 words)

	Joel Skousen -- Why A Fully Informed Jury is Essential For Liberty
		The court had the audacity to tell the jury that “truth is no defense.” This is one of the first examples of a jury’s right to directly disregard the instructions of the judge.
		Juries did not have the power overturn the law, but simply to acquit if they felt the law was being applied improperly.
		Jury nullification was given a dark name when a hand picked, mostly fl jury refused to convict O. Simpson of murder--mostly out of racial sympathy.
	www.newswithviews.com /your_govt/your_government54.htm (1242 words)

	Jury Nullification and the Rule of Law
		He said that the O.J. verdict was an example of "jury nullification" and that the whole idea of jury nullification was a violation of the rule of law.
		Jury nullification is not a violation of the rule of law because it is part of the rule of law.
		The jury is the last line of defense, the last check and balance, against tyrannical government, if, that is, it is charged with determining the justice of a case and not just with blindly applying the law as given by a judge.
	www.friesian.com /nullif.htm (3677 words)

	Jury Nullification
		Juries are charged today with the responsibility of reaching a verdict based on the facts of a case within the law as it is explained by the trial judge.
		Almost since the beginning of the jury in England, however, jurors have engaged in "nullification," where the jury exercises its discretion "in favor of a defendant whom the jury nonetheless believes to have committed the act with which he is charged" (Green, 1985).
		Jury deliberations are secret; thus, nullification is both a covert and controversial activity.
	www.crfc.org /americanjury/nullification.html (271 words)

	Le Magazine, August 2004 - Report: Why We Need Fully Informed Juries
		The American Jury Institute/ Fully Informed Jury Association (AJI/FIJA) is the national advocate for the right of individuals charged with a âcrimeâ to be tried by a jury that is allowed to hear the âfactsâ of the case and determine whether the âlawâ itself is being applied justly.
		In other words, for government to deprive a citizen of his or her personal liberty, AJI/FIJA insists that a jury must be âfully informedâ about all aspects of the case, and not be limited to a narrow, one-sided version presented solely by the prosecutors.
		This man was convicted because the jury was not allowed to hear the âfactâ that this manâs activities were âlegal under California law.â The federal prosecutor convinced the judge that the simple âfactâ (that California permitted this activity) was not relevant to this case.
	www.lef.org /magazine/mag2004/aug2004_report_juries_01.htm (1985 words)

	Minutes of the Annual Meeting - January 11, 1997
		A vote was taken and the alternate membership designation of "associate member" at $15 per year was approved as an option for those who cannot afford the $25 membership dues.
		House File 130 - Recognizes the defendant's right to inform the jury of their prerogative to judge the law, as well as all the evidence.
		Senate File 287 - Recognizes the defendant's right to inform the jury of their prerogative to judge the law, as well as all the evidence.
	www.druglibrary.org /olsen/FIJA/970111.html (802 words)

	News - Sierra Times.com
		Jury verdicts were to constitute a form of public commentary on the law, which would, expectably, differ from information supplied by special interest groups.
		But every time precedent is set which limits the political role of the jury as the final quality check upon the laws enacted by our elected lawmakers, we move farther away from government of, by, and for the people.
		Also ignored is the fact that the southern juries in question were not only composed entirely of white men, seated without challenge by prosecutors or judges, but were given oaths and the usual "you must follow the law, agree with it or not" instruction.
	www.sierratimes.com /archive/files/may/17/arld051701.htm (1085 words)

	Jurors' Handbook: Citizens Guide to Jury Duty
		This rule is designed to safeguard the jury's power "to arrive at a general verdict without having to support it by reasons or by a report of its deliberations," and to protect its historic power to nullify or temper rules of law based on the jurors' sense of justice as conscience of the community.
		Despite their differing constitutions, all four states have held that a jury has, at most, the power to acquit a guilty man, not the right, and should not be told that it may ignore or nullify the law.
		There is no compelling reason why a jury should learn every dirty little secret of our system of justice, especially if that knowledge would undermine the purpose of the proceeding or the jurors' perception of the seriousness of their role.
	www.caught.net /juror.htm (9403 words)

	Trial Jury Reform
		The jury system was made part of our Constitution because the Founders did not trust judges, but ever since the Constitution was adopted, there has been a struggle between judges and juries, with judges trying to confine juries to deciding the "facts" in a case, leaving the judges to decide the "law".
		Judges try to intimidate juries into following their instructions, which are only advisory, and prosecute attorneys for contempt if they try to inform jurors of their right and power to decide the law as well as the "facts" in the case.
		Criminal Libel and the Duty of Juries, Joseph Towers (1764, 1784), Francis Maseres (1792) — Three essays on the right of defendants, especially in criminal libel cases, to have the jury decide the law as well as the fact issues.
	www.constitution.org /jury/pj/pj-us.htm (894 words)

	Fully Informed Jury Flyer
		In a trial by jury, the judge's job is to referee the trial and provide neutral legal advice to the jury, but judges rarely advise jurors of their rights.
		Jurors are very rarely informed they may vote according to conscience, even after swearing to "apply the law as given" - or told that it's better to "hang" the jury than to violate one's conscience in order to reach consensus.
		As long as juries had the final say on the laws of the land, the government would remain the servant, not the master, of the people.
	www.ibiblio.org /fija/fijaintr.htm (975 words)

	ASH Inc - Aug 1999 meeting - FIJA - Fully Informed Jury Association (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
		Paula Maas will be speaking about Fully Informed Jurys which dates back to the year 1300 in English law when juries were allowed to decide both if the law was just and if the person was to be convicted.
		Juries during that period often refused to convict booze makers and sellers because they felt the laws agains booze were unjust.
		Fully Informed Juries used to be the normal mode of operation in the courts.
	aztec.asu.edu /ash/nexta002.html (165 words)

	Judge rules on racial makeup of juries - Boston.com (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-10-14)
		For years, defense attorneys have complained that seating a jury in federal court in Boston usually yields one of two panels: all-white or almost all-white.
		In her ruling last month, Gertner said targeting certain zip codes may increase the likelihood that fl jurors will be in the pool for the trial of Darryl Green and Branden Morris, who are charged in the 2001 gang killing of Terrell Gethers.
		But Jones praised Gertner's ruling, which specifies that when a jury summons is returned as undeliverable, the jury administrator should send a second notice.
	www.boston.com /news/nation/articles/2005/10/02/judge_rules_on_racial_makeup_of_juries (708 words)

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