Fully Informed Jury Association
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The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) is a United States national jury education organization, incorporated in the state of Montana as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. FIJA works to educate all citizens on their authority when they serve as jurors. FIJA educates the public, provides commentary on current jury-related cases, and assists defendants with jury authority strategies—including the right to veto bad laws and the misapplication of laws—by refusing to convict the defendant.
In the U.S., every defendant in a criminal case has the constitutional right to be tried by a jury of his or her peers. FIJA educates jurors about the right to veto bad prosecutions when reaching a verdict. This concept is known as jury nullification.
FIJA occasionally promotes the right of defendants and defense attorneys to tell jurors of their authority and of their right and duty to society and to the defendant. In particular, they advocate informing jurors of their right to jury nullification, which allows a jury to decide the merits and validity of the application of the law itself. Currently, judges are not legally required to notify jurors of this right.
Many libertarians support the right of jury nullification. However, many prosecutors and law enforcement professionals are strongly opposed to the notion that juries can nullify undesirable laws, while many other lawyers and judges strongly support this right.
[edit] External links
- Fully Informed Jury Association
- Lone Star FIJA
- The Jury Rights Project
- The Jury Education Committee
- Freedomlaw Pages
- How to Get Out of Jury Duty (Satirical defense of jury powers)
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