An appellate court system based on the idea of an unwritten constitution and common-law traditions prevailed, limiting and decentralizing power and protecting the rights and interests of states and of local communities.

... The purpose of this handbook is to acquaint trial jurors with the general nature and importance of their role as jurors; explains some of the language and procedures used in court, and offers some suggestions helpful to jurors in performing their duty ...

Good people refuse to enforce bad laws, but how do you force change in the justice system? How do the people peacefully take power back from an overreaching government? How do you stop thousands of people from being victimized by law enforcement and corrupt courts? The answer...through jury nullification.Learn the secrets of the legal system that the courts hate for you to know, but are powerless to prevent you from exercising. You could be that one person that begins forcing a change in your city, county, or state that saves countless lives from the cesspool of the "justice" system.As one of the closely guarded secrets of the legal system, jury nullification places the power of the entire legal structure of the country back into the hands of the people and allows them to nullify bad laws through refusing to convict on laws you don't agree with. Under this system of checks and balances, juries act as the sole authority over both the legislative and judicial systems of the Federal and State governments."The jury is a check on us--it's a check on the judges. I think the Framers were not willing to trust, in criminal cases, the judges to find the facts. Indeed, you know at the beginning, when the Constitution was ratified, juries used to find not only the facts, but the law. " - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia"I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor, ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution." - Thomas Jefferson"It is not only his right, but his duty... to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court."- John AdamsIn this collection of essays you will learn:-What jury nullification is-Why jury nullification is important-Why free speech is not allowed in the courts-Who actually holds the power over the entire system (spoiler alert... it's you.)- and much, much moreJury nullification takes the power away from those who profit from our current criminal justice system and place it in the rightful hands of the people. Lawyers and judges thrive off people feeling powerless and who obey their edicts as though they were absolute; however, the only person who has absolute power in the courtroom is that one lone juror.. and that could be you."If the jury feels the law is unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is contrary to the law as given by a judge, and contrary to the evidence... If the jury feels that the law under which the defendant is accused is unjust, or that exigent circumstances justified the actions of the accused, or for any reason which appeals to their logic or passion, the jury has the power to acquit, and the courts must abide by that decision." - United States v. Moylan, 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1969, 417 F.2d at 1006

Although the jury is often referred to as one of the bulwarks of the American justice system, it regularly comes under attack. Recent changes to trial procedures, such as reducing jury size, allowing non-unanimous verdicts, and rewriting jury instructions in plain English, were designed to promote greater efficiency and adherence to the law. Other changes, such as capping damages and replacing jurors with judges as arbiters in complex trials, seem designed to restrict the role of laypeople in trial outcomes. Whether these innovations are implemented to facilitate the administration of justice or due to the belief that juries have excessive power and make irrational decisions, they raise a host of questions about their effects on juries' judgments and about justice. Policymakers sometimes make incorrect assumptions about jury behavior, with the result that some reform efforts have had surprising and unintended consequences. The Jury Under Fire reviews a number of controversial beliefs about juries as well as the implications of these views for jury reform. It reviews up-to-date research on both criminal and civil juries that uses a variety of research methodologies: simulations, archival analyses, field studies, and juror interviews. Each chapter focuses on a mistaken assumption or myth about jurors or juries, critiques these myths, and then uses social science research findings to suggest appropriate reforms. Chapters discuss the experience of serving as a juror; jury selection and jury size; and the impact of evidence from eyewitnesses, experts, confessions, and juvenile offenders. The book also covers the process of deciding damages and punishment and the role of emotions in jurors' decision making, and it compares jurors' and judges' decisions. Finally, it reviews a broad range of efforts to reform the jury, including the most promising reforms that have a solid backing in research. Featuring highly visible trials to illustrate key points, The Jury Under Fire will interest researchers in psychology and the law, practicing attorneys, and policymakers, as well as students and trainees in these areas.

Norman J. Finkel explores the relationship between the law on the books, as set down in the Constitution and developed in cases and decisions, and what he calls commonsense justice, the ordinary citizen's notions of what is just and fair.