Fully Informed Jury Association

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Fully Informed Jury Association

• and
• American Jury Institute

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Called for Jury Duty?

• Some facts you should know before you go...

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Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Paine 1789, ME 7408,
Papers 15269.

• 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.

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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.

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The highest and best function of the jury is to
protect fellow citizens from tyrannical
prosecutions and bad laws unfairly imposed by
government.
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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
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• 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 Holmes Horning v. District
of Columbia 249 U.S. 596, 1920
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What are Your Duties as a Juror?
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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
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• 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
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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
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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 laws application in this trial

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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
JailWhy We Can't Wait, April 16, 1963
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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

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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

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John Adams 1771 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.

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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

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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_at_fija.org
• Contact your local representative
• http//www.fija.org/state20coordinators.htm

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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

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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_now21.
htm
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The Authority of the Jury is the Right that
Protects all Other Rights
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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.
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Fully Informed Jury Associationand American
Jury Institute

• 1-800-TEL-JURY
• www.fija.org