Daily Archives: October 12, 2003

Late Night Reading

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The first edition of the Carnival of the Capitalists is here:

this weekly roundup is intended to be a “Best Of the Blogosphere” for posts covering business, economics, stocks, accounting, taxes, business law, and related topics

From the introductory post:

We have several goals with the Carnival of the Capitalists. First off, to provide a good summary of the best posts to those who don’t read business blogs every day. Secondly, to allow readers to try out a new blog by reading that blog’s best post of the week, instead of on some random day when maybe the material isn’t as interesting. Lastly, to encourage more and better business writing by those who participate.
…..
Despite the name, you don’t have to be a capitalist to submit. Posts criticizing capitalism are welcome, but will be posted at the bottom of the page (just kidding – they will get fair placement). Also, you don’t have to be a regular business blogger to contribute a post. Any relevant post is welcome.

Via Robert Prather.

Jury Nullification

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Orcinus teaches us about the concept of jury nullification:

jury nullification — by sitting in judgment not just of the facts of the case but of the laws themselves — arrogates to itself not only the role of the judge but of the legislature, essentially overturning at whim those laws that have been passed through democratic processes. In this sense, jury nullification is a threat not only to the courts, but to the very systems of laws on which the nation rests.

Well, there are quite a few laws on the books that should not be there.
The wise prosecution/defense attorney will not leave me on the jury for certain types of cases. I won’t lie so as to be able to sandbag a jury but they should ask me the right question(s) to assure that I’m ok with the laws relevant to the trial. If they do leave me on a jury the ‘facts’ better be iron clad or I just might be biased by my opinion of the law itself.
Update(10/13): WalterinDenver dissects a Denver Post editorial on jury nullification and provides some counterpoint to Orcinus.