About the Sixth Amendment

The Sixth Amendment is familiar to many Americans as comprising a large part of "Miranda", the advisory of rights to criminal suspects by arresting law enforcement officers. The amendment was crafted by the founders as insurance of sorts. They wished to provide that no one be punished for a crime without presentation of evidence sufficient to convince a group of unrelated people that he or she is, indeed, guilty. In this way, it was hoped that such motivators for accusation as jealousy or revenge would be curbed. In large part, the founders were successful.

Of paramount importance in the jury system is so-called "jury nullification." In fact, John Adams said, "It is not only the juror's right, but his duty to find according to his own best understanding, judgement, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the insruction of the court." Jury nullification permits juries to find a defendant not guilty even if he or she broke the law provided the jurors believe the defendant shouldn't have been charged (the law itself is "bad"), or that the law shouldn't have been applied in a particular instance. Jurors cannot overturn a law — only a legislative body can do that — but they can refuse to apply it in spite of a judge's instructions to the contrary. Because trial by jury is such an essential part of our justice system, anyone eligible for jury duty should be familiar with the powers and responsibilities of a juror.

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