Fully Informed Jury Association

1. and American Jury Institute Fully Informed Jury Association

2. Some facts you should know before you go... Called for Jury Duty?

3. Thomas Jeffersonto Thomas Paine1789, ME 7:408, Papers 15:269. “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor yet imagined by man by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

4. Our Mission Our mission is to inform all Americans about their rights, authority, and responsibilities when serving as trial jurors. Jurors must know that they have the option and the responsibility to render a verdict based on their conscience and on their sense of justice, as well as on the merits of the law.

5. The highest and best function of the jury is to protect fellow citizens from tyrannical prosecutions and bad laws unfairly imposed by government.

6. Why are Juries Important? • Protect society from dangerous individuals • Protect individuals from unjust prosecutions • Have a duty to render a just verdict • Have an inalienable right to veto bad laws • Cannot be punished for their verdict Note: The principle of jury authority applies equally in criminal and civil cases

7. “The judge cannot direct a verdict it is true, and the jury has the power to bring in a verdict in the teeth of both law and facts.” Justice Oliver Wendell HolmesHorning v. District of Columbia 249 U.S. 596, 1920

8. What are Your Duties as a Juror?

9. Your Duties as a Juror Appear for jury duty when you are called Your participation and your verdict will have an impact on the life of the defendant and on all of your community

10. Your Duties as a Juror • Pay attention to all witnesses and evidence • Listen respectfully to fellow jurors • Vote your conscience, even if you are the only juror who believes in your verdict • Render a just verdict Do not change your verdict if you are pressured by fellow jurors or a judge

11. Rendering a Just Verdict Take into account… • Defendant is innocent until proven guilty • The facts of the case • Credibility of witnesses and evidence • Mitigating circumstances • Fairness of the law • Fairness of the law’s application in this trial

12. “One may… ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there [are] two types of laws: just and unjust… One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’ ” Martin Luther King, Jr."Letter from Birmingham Jail”Why We Can't Wait, April 16, 1963

13. Jurors are Representatives of the People • Hold no personal or political agenda • Have no stake in the trial outcome • Serve as the conscience of the community

14. Jurors are Representatives of the People • The only truly objective individuals in a courtroom • Serve as a check and balance on all branches of government • Last peaceful defense of our civil liberties

15. John Adams1771 2 Life and Works of John Adams253-255 C.F. Adams ed. 1856 “It is not only (the juror's) right, but his duty... to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, even though in direct opposition to the direction of the court.”

16. What Does FIJA/AJI Do? • Maintains educational website www.fija.org • Publishes educational literature and commentary and essays • Presents Amicus briefs when the authority of the jury is at issue • Provides interviews to the media • Speaks at functions and in classrooms

17. How Can I Get More Information? Call 1-800-TEL-JURY for your free jury information packet • Visit our website: www.fija.org • Send us a note P.O. Box 5570, Helena MT, 59604 aji@fija.org • Contact your local representative http://www.fija.org/state%20coordinators.htm

18. What Can I Do to Help? • Appear for jury duty when you are called • Learn more about the role of the jury • Share this information with your friends and neighbors • Volunteer for jury education projects in your state and community • Spread the word at every opportunity • Support us with your contribution

19. What Can I Do to Help? Mail your contributions to: FIJA/AJI PO Box 5570 Helena, MT 59604 Contribute online through our secure site: http://www.fija.org/support_liberty_now%21.htm

20. The Authority of the Jury is the Right that Protects all Other Rights

21. The Fully Informed Jury Association and American Jury Institute (FIJA/AJI) is a nonpartisan public policy research and education organization located in Helena, Montana. FIJA/AJI focuses on issues involving the role of the jury in our justice system and the preservation of the full function of the jury as the final arbiter in our courts of law. The FIJA/AJI mission is to inform all Americans about their rights, authority, and responsibilities when serving as trialjurors. Jurors have both the authority and the obligation to render a verdict based on conscience, and retain the right to nullify bad law and misapplied laws. FIJA/AJI works to restore the political function of the jury as the final check and balance on our American system of government.To ensure public understanding of the power and function of the jury, FIJA/AJI hosts conferences and educational seminars. FIJA/AJI publishes an extensive variety of educational and research literature, and answers queries from the public, scholars and legal professionals. As well, FIJA/AJI officers are often featured speakers and guest commentators in the press, where they discuss cases in which jury selection, information, or jury instructions had a significant role in the outcome of the case. To maintain its independence, FIJA/AJI accepts no government funding. FIJA/AJI programs and publications are possible because of generous contributions received from individual donors, foundations, and corporations. FIJA/AJI generates revenue through seminar fees and the sale of FIJA/AJI publications and materials. FIJA/AJI is a public policy nonprofit, tax-exempt educational foundation under Section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

22. 1-800-TEL-JURY www.fija.org Fully Informed Jury Associationand American Jury Institute