by Rebekah Zhuraw, FIJA - 10/29/2008

Last year, 7,300 people in Philadelphia were arrested for marijuana - a number which attests both to the widespread popular use of marijuana and to the senseless destruction of lives in this arm of the war on drugs.  And these numbers are just symptomatic of a larger, nation-wide pattern.  Alternet.org reported in September that, "According to data released yesterday in the FBI's annual Uniform Crime Report, police in 2007 arrested over 872,000 US citizens - that's nearly one out of every two Americans busted for illicit drugs - for weed."  Yes, almost 50% of drug busts in the US are for marijuana - something that hurts no-one and has been tested for 4,500 years.   

The criminalization of marijuana creates an unnecessary web of corruption around it, including in the law enforcement system itself, whose employees are making a living destroying the lives of people whose major crime is that they enjoy a mild drug, comparable to alcohol (though arguably less dangerous), which helps them to relax, feel uplifted, and maybe even enlightened. This unjust law is a violation of people's civil liberties, and in many cases their religious rights, as well.  The worst thing about pot is getting busted.  So what can be done about this?

Well, happily there is something we can do about this.  It's called jury nullification.  This means there is a law in the constitution of the United States that if you, the juror, disagree with an unjust law on the books, you can nullify that law.  Just as when you vote for the president you are expected to vote according to your own conscience, you are also expected to vote according to your conscience when you sit on a jury.  Yes, you, the juror, have the power to check the system. 

Just think, the founding fathers were sitting around smoking a bowl of some really good stuff Thomas Jefferson had grown, saying, "How can we create a country where religious and individual rights are respected?"  So they put jury nullification in the constitution and made the individual the most powerful part of the legal system.  In fact, William Penn put jury nullification into the constitution of Pennsylvania first and started the whole thing.  Jury nullification has worked so well in Pennsylvania that Philadelphia was one of the first cities in the United States to overturn alcohol prohibition and Pennsylvania among the first states to free slaves.

Unfortunately few of us are aware of this history, nor this right and duty.  Each judge in Pennsylvania must notify the jurors of their right of jury nullification, but they do not do so, and it is rarely taught in law schools.  The facts are the legal system wants full control and wants the jurors to only do what they are told.  Norml would like to change this.

Norml is committed to making jurors aware of their rights and will be passing out Fully Informed Jury Association brochures in front of the court house to inform people of their rights as jurors.  Volunteers are needed, and in the past PhillyNORML has come through with some excellent volunteer efforts.  Here's what you can do:

To volunteer to pass out American Jury Institute literature at the courthouse, contact our volunteer coordinator Joel Spivak at joelspivak@comcast.net.

If you have been arrested for marijuana, go for a jury trial, and please let Philly NORML know so we can post it and you can have supporters come to your trial.

For more information on jury nullification, visit www.americanjuryinstitute.org.