 [9] ALT.HEMP (1:375/48)  ALT.HEMP 
 Msg  : #6220 [218]                                                             
 From : Carl E. Olsen                       1:2613/335      Mon 08 Aug 94 23:10 
 To   : All                                                                     
 Subj : Have you ever tried smoking pot?                                        

From: carlolsen@dsmnet.com (Carl E. Olsen)
Organization: Des Moines Internet

In article <1994Aug8.093655.18877@crosfield.co.uk> glyn@crosfield.co.uk (Glyn
Hanton) writes:

>From: glyn@crosfield.co.uk (Glyn Hanton)
>Subject: Re: Have you ever tried smoking pot?
>Date: Mon, 8 Aug 1994 09:36:55 GMT


>: Juries
>: are allowed (though some judges may disagree :-) ) to find people not guilty
>: even though they have obviously committed the offence of which they're
>: charged on the grounds that the law is a pile of steaming shit.

>I've heard that before too, where does it come from, ie does anyone
>know if this is a fact ?

>: Not only would this count as a legal precedent, but the Crown Prosecution
>: Service is very reluctant to spend money on any case they think they might
>: lose - once one person gets off because a jury thinks the law is crap that's
>: it...

This comes from the 1670 trial of Edward Bushell.  Bushell was a juror in the
William Penn Trial.  Penn was on trial for preaching an illegal religion
(Quakerism) to an illegal gathering.  Bushell and others refused to return a
guilty verdict and were fined and imprisoned.  The Court of Common Pleas
released him, ruling that jurors have the right to vote their conscience and
are not bound by the law.  In the United States, jurors were commonly informed
of this right for about 50 years after the Revolution.  In 1895, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that judges were not obligated to inform jurors of their
right to disregard a judge's instructions on the law.  Nevertheless, jurors
still retain this right and cannot be fined or imprisoned for their verdicts.

Carl

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