{"id":6295,"date":"2013-10-30T06:39:21","date_gmt":"2013-10-30T10:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=6295"},"modified":"2024-09-11T23:33:28","modified_gmt":"2024-09-12T03:33:28","slug":"jim-babb-whips-washington-jury-nullification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/30\/jim-babb-whips-washington-jury-nullification\/","title":{"rendered":"Jim Babb Whips Washington on Jury Nullification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jim Babb<\/strong><\/a> could be the most effective libertarian activist in the nation. \u00a0Last month, he raised a few thousand dollars on Facebook to put a few posters promoting jury nullification in Washington DC subway stops.<\/p>\n

Today, the Washington Post reports<\/a> that Babb’s effort has enraged if not terrified the top federal prosecutor in D.C. courts. The Post notes: “Since the billboard went up this month, District prosecutors have been worried that the message could sway their cases. In the past week alone, they have asked judges in three \u00adcases to ensure that jurors had neither seen nor been influenced by the billboard.”<\/p>\n

U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. warned: \u201cJurors who ignore the law or refuse to follow the judge\u2019s instructions embolden criminals who believe that they can get away with breaking the law and do harm to the community without any repercussion.\u201d \u00a0The Post story mentioned a couple murder cases where prosecutors are counting on jurors to convict. \u00a0But most arrests in DC are for BS offenses that do little more than stuff the city’s coffers.<\/p>\n

It is great to see how the efforts of Babb and a handful of cohorts have spooked DC’s government elite.<\/p>\n

Here’s a link to the website of the good folks at the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA).<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Here’s the Post’s story and photo –<\/p>\n

Billboard advocating jury nullification concerns local prosecutors<\/h1>\n

By\u00a0Keith L. Alexander<\/a>,\u00a0Published: October\u00a029<\/h3>\n

The illuminated billboard in the Judiciary Square Metro station near the F Street entrance was strategically placed.<\/p>\n

Prospective jurors who take the subway to D.C. Superior Court and exit near the National Building Museum see these words: \u201cGood jurors nullify bad laws\u201d and \u201cYou have the right to \u2018hang\u2019 the jury with your vote if you cannot agree with other jurors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since the billboard went up this month, District prosecutors have been worried that the message could sway their cases. In the past week alone, they have asked judges in three \u00adcases to ensure that jurors had neither seen nor been influenced by the billboard.<\/p>\n

The billboard is part of a growing national campaign to encourage jurors who disagree with a law, or think a punishment is too harsh, to vote for acquittal. Kirsten Tynan of the Montana-based Fully Informed Jury Association, whose name and Web address is included on the billboard, said the nonprofit group generally challenges crimes it calls \u201cvictimless,\u201d such as vandalism by graffiti or gun possession.<\/p>\n

James Babb, a Philadelphia-based graphics artist who organized a fundraising campaign to put up the billboard, said he raised $3,000 in about a week through Facebook and other \u00adsocial-media sites. He said he is concerned about laws that he thinks are too restrictive.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are going to jail for weed,\u201d Babb said. \u201cThings are getting so weird. There needs to be this final safeguard to protect us from a tyrannical government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Babb\u2019s group has added a similar message on two pillars in Archives station, another Metro stop near the courthouse. Both displays are scheduled to be up for about a month. Babb said he also plans to place signs in other cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Supporters of jury nullification in several cities have raised the ire of judges and prosecutors. In New York last year, an 80-year-old man was charged with jury tampering after passing out fliers about jury nullification to courthouse visitors; the case was later dismissed by a federal judge.<\/p>\n

Locally, prosecutors have been scrambling to ensure that the billboard\u2019s message doesn\u2019t influence their \u00adcases.<\/p>\n

In a gang-related murder trial set to begin this week, prosecutors filed a motion asking the judge to question potential jurors about whether they had seen the billboard. They also requested that the judge remind jurors that their verdict should not be influenced by whether they agree or disagree with the law.<\/p>\n

In their memo, prosecutors Todd Gee and Emily Miller wrote that jurors who see the billboard may think \u201cthey don\u2019t have to abide by an oath\u201d and that it could encourage them \u201cto hang and to learn about the concept of jury nullification.\u201d<\/p>\n

In another recent murder case, the jury had already been sworn in and the trial was underway when prosecutors alerted Superior Court Judge Herbert Dixon to the billboard. Dixon, according to people familiar with the case, then asked the jurors if they had seen the billboard. No one said they had.<\/p>\n

Days later, the jury found the defendant, Grant Johnson, 39, of Bladensburg, Md., guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of 32-year-old Ricardo Lancaster during a drug deal in 2012, prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

And in a trial involving an assault with a deadly weapon, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brittain Shaw asked the judge to question potential jurors about the billboard. Days later, the jury found the defendant, Charles Link, 53, guilty in a knife attack in November that left one man injured.<\/p>\n

The billboard also comes as\u00a0Adam Kokesh<\/a>,\u00a0a Fairfax County-based gun rights activist, is preparing to go to trial after posting an Independence Day video on YouTube of himself apparently loading a shotgun in Freedom Plaza. He had been scheduled to go to trial Thursday, but the case was pushed back to at least Nov. 18.<\/p>\n

Kokesh\u2019s supporters have\u00a0advocated for jury nullification\u00a0<\/a>in his case.<\/p>\n

Tynan said the Metro billboard was not directly aimed at the Kokesh, who pleaded not guilty to carrying a pistol without a license, but she said that his case was the kind her organization targeted. \u201cIt\u2019s a victimless trial,\u201d Tynan said.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney\u2019s office said there has been no organized effort by prosecutors to address the billboard, but instead prosecutors have raised the issue on a case-by-case basis.<\/p>\n

\u201cJurors in the District of Columbia play an important role in holding accountable the criminals who threaten and harm the people who live, work and visit our city,\u201d U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. said in a statement. But he added, \u201cJurors who ignore the law or refuse to follow the judge\u2019s instructions embolden criminals who believe that they can get away with breaking the law and do harm to the community without any repercussion.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jim Babb could be the most effective libertarian activist in the nation. \u00a0Last month, he raised a few thousand dollars on Facebook to put a few posters promoting jury nullification in Washington DC subway stops. Today, the Washington Post reports that Babb’s effort has enraged if not terrified the top federal prosecutor in D.C. courts. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[45,317],"class_list":["post-6295","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-freedom","tag-jury-nullification"],"yoast_head":"\nJim Babb Whips Washington on Jury Nullification - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2013\/10\/30\/jim-babb-whips-washington-jury-nullification\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Jim Babb Whips Washington on Jury Nullification - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jim Babb could be the most effective libertarian activist in the nation. \u00a0Last month, he raised a few thousand dollars on Facebook to put a few posters promoting jury nullification in Washington DC subway stops. 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