Jury Nullification, Conscientious Acquittal, and the Fight To Regain Jury Independence w/Clark Neily

Aug 15

Whether you call it Jury Nullification or Conscientious Acquittal, today’s episode is all about the fight to reinvigorate the jury trial and the independence of the jury. Joining Hunter to discuss is Clark Neily, Senior VP for Legal Studies at the CATO Institute. Before America was even a country, the power of a jury to acquit someone of a charge they were legally guilty of because the jury disagree with the law as applied in this case was unquestioned. Over time however, prosecutors and judges pushed for and enabled the gradual erosion of the juries power. Now, more than 250 years after the founding, the jury trial is little more than a relic of the past, and even a whisper of jury independence in a court room can get jurors removed from a case. How did this happen and what can be done to reverse this trend? Find out by listening to today’s episode!

Guests:

Clark Neily, Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, CATO Institute

Resources:

Trial of John Peter Zenger

https://www.ushistory.org/us/7c.asp

Follow Clark on Twitter (not calling it X not even if there is a fire)

https://twitter.com/conlawwarrior/with_replies

CATO Jury Independence

https://www.cato.org/policy-report/january/february-2014/historical-look-power-jury-independence#:~:text=Recently%20re%20released%20by%20the,abused%2C%20as%20has%20all%20power.

Contact Hunter Parnell:

Publicdefenseless@gmail.com

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A little less than a year ago, Hunter spoke with Alexandra Bailey of the Sentencing Project to explore why states like Oklahoma so readily punish the survivors of domestic violence. Today, Hunter returns to Oklahoma to speak with Colleen McCarty and Leslie Briggs from Oklahoma Appleseed to discuss their work in trying to push back against the expansion of the carceral state in Oklahoma. In particular, this conversation centers in large part about the Wrongful Conviction of April Wilkens. With their podcast “Panic Button” Colleen, Leslie and all of Appleseed hope to expose the injustice in April’s case, but also hope people realize that April is one of many women who face the power of the carceral state who are survivors of domestic violence.

Guests:

Colleen McCarty, Founding Executive Director, Oklahoma Appleseed

Leslie Briggs, Legal Director, Oklahoma Appleseed

Resources:

Visit OK Appleseed

https://okappleseed.org/

Follow OK Appleseed on:

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/OKAppleseedCenter/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ok_appleseed

Twitter https://twitter.com/OK_Appleseed

Listen to the Panic Button Podcast

https://panicbuttontheaprilwilkenscase.podbean.com/