Abolition in the Courtroom

This past spring, we collaborated with the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls and the Fully Informed Jury Association to host a teach on Jury Nullification.   

Jury nullification is the right that jurors have to find a defendant “not guilty” even if they believe that the person committed the crime. Why? Because they believe that the law or punishment is unjust. A well-known example of jury nullification goes back to 1850 when people who protected former enslaved people from recapture were brought to trial under the Fugitive Slave Act. To fight the injustice of this law, jurors protested by refusing to convict. And these protests helped change history. 

To learn more about the work of the teach-in facilitators, check out this article published in McCormick’s monthly newsletter.

Host a watch party with some friends and watch the recording of the Jury Nullification teach-in here.