On April 19, 2012, U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood dismissed the indictment against Julian Heicklen for distributing pamphlets that advocated jury nullification. It was a wise decision that deserves more attention than it has received.
Julian Heicklen, an 80-year-old retired chemistry professor, advocates for the right of jurors to follow their conscience and not the law. On at least eight occasions between October 2009 and May 2010, he stood outside the entrance to the federal courthouse at 500 Pearl Street, holding a sign reading “Jury Info” and distributing pamphlets from the Fully Informed Jury Association. The pamphlets tell jurors that “the judge will instruct the jury that it must uphold the law as he gives it [but] he will be lying.” A juror, the pamphlets state, must “judge the law as well as the facts””it is the jury’s duty to see that justice is done.” And the pamphlets encourage jurors who believe in the “right to nullify” to be less than candid when asked if they “will follow the law as given.” In the words of the pamphlet: “It’s up to you to decide how to answer this question especially if you have moral qualms about the consequences of telling the truth. A truthful answer, the pamphlet notes, could “cost you your chance to serve and therefore enable the legal professionals to stack the jury with people who don’t know their rights.”
