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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJurors Can Protect Abortion Access
In the race to the bottom that has followed the Supreme Courts June Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization decision which overturned Roe v. Wade, fourteen states have enacted near-total bans on abortion. The most chilling are those which threaten imprisonment for anyone who assists with the procedure. The 2022 Texas statute, for instance, states that a doctor who performs an abortion for any reason other than saving the life of the mother may be punished by a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. It is only a matter of time before a health care provider is charged under the new criminal statutes.
Not for the first time, Americans find themselves between two dissonant legal orders within the same country, with states and the federal government operating from different, irreconcilable visions of bodily autonomy.
The threat of fines and imprisonment for rendering assistance evokes another time that this happened, when, during the buildup to the Civil War, the United States enacted the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. The central issue of that time was the legality of slavery, its expansion, and the federal governments role in supporting it as an economic, political, and social endeavor. Similar to the issue of abortion, the Fugitive Slave Act revolved around the question of whether a persons bodily autonomy could ever be superseded by anothers claim over them. Then as now, opposing camps felt emboldened to take radical legal and political action to further their cause. Given these general similarities, those fighting against the increased criminalization of abortion should seek inspiration from how abolitionists responded to the Fugitive Slave Act by not only waging a fearsome political battle to contest the legislation, but also by leveraging the power available to criminal juriesmost notably juror nullificationto abrogate the power of unjust laws.
Jury nullification, also called conscientious acquittal, describes the power of jurors to declare a defendant Not Guilty for reasons apart from the evidence. In a recent article for the magazine Inquest, legal scholars Peter N. Salib and Guha Krishnamurthi argued for the use of jury nullification as a way for citizens to combat the post-Dobbs legal landscape. They see it as having significant upstream consequences: prosecutors will fear charging people with the most unpopular aspects of the anti-abortion statutes if juries are repeatedly unwilling to convict. I share their interest in this strategy, but believe that as a tool with complex legal and moral ramifications, nullification should be approached with an awareness of its history and purpose. In what follows, I draw on my knowledge as a scholar of juries to explore why jury nullification might be considered a much-needed political and legal tool for the current moment and offer strategies for potential jurors who are contemplating it.
https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/jurors-can-protect-abortion-access/
"If something's now illegal because of the 5 of the SCOTUS, then I always say 'not guilty'!"
CincyDem
(6,390 posts)
with this SCOTUS, its not clear jury trials would be precedent if they hinder the march to a theocratic dictatorship.
I cant imagine the illegitimate 5 letting a little thing like jury nullification stall the grand plan.
Call me crazy but, things we thought theyll never do
theyre doing daily.
GOTV because everything, and I mean everything, we think of as a right is on the ballot. Roe is the current poster child and the most substantial threat to not just womens health but to our countrys health.
But whats next? And then what? And then what?
I wish to God I had an answer besides vote vote and vote (just not in the same election). Im losing faith in the system will hold concept when all I see is these guys jackhammering our foundations and norms daily. At some point we reach a tipping point where they wont hold. Were not there today but I believe we can see it from here.
Rant off.
gab13by13
(21,408 posts)The Supreme Court is about to rule if state legislators have the absolute authority to gerrymander districts. What this means is that state legislators will have the final say, even over the governor, even over the state Supreme Court. Now, will this decision morph into giving state legislators absolute authority in all phases of elections? If it does, there are 27 states controlled by Magats, which means those states' legislators, every states' legislators, can select Electoral College electors no matter how we the people voted. State legislators can declare there was fraud in a Democratic district, throw out the votes, and elect the Magat who really lost the election.
Think the Magats won't do this, they have been going for absolute authority for decades, and they may have attained it. Several fascist justices have already opined their approval for absolute authority. The decision is coming next month.