The people have a voice

I came across this headline and summary this morning:

Prosecutors Fail 3 Times to Charge Woman With Felony Assault of F.B.I. Agent in D.C. Federal prosecutors on Monday reduced the charges against a woman accused last month of assaulting an F.B.I. agent during a protest against immigration officials in Washington, refiling her case as a misdemeanor after they were unable to persuade three grand juries over a month to indict her with a felony.

Woo Hoo! Go, Fellow Citizens! The alleged offender had merely blocked a transport unit from a detention facility. For her trouble, she was roughed up by the cops when they arrested her. Like so many others, she was falsely accused of resisting and causing a boo boo to an officer's hand. 

At a time when the Courts are rolling over and letting the Trump administration run roughshod over the Constitution, the American citizens can have a voice in the process. In addition to refusing to file charges when presented evidence in a grand jury setting, citizens can also refuse to indict in a jury trial. This is a process called jury nullification. Famously used throughout the Prohibition Era to express discontent with the law, jury nullification occurs when the jury is presented with a solid case to indict under current laws but refuse to convict because they believe the laws are wrong. It is a powerful message to authorities that the laws in question are an overreach against societal mores, common sense, and the Constitution. 

Jury nullification is also used in cases of perceived prosecutorial misconduct. The current regime is beginning to target its so-called enemies. Juries and grand juries have the option of stopping this nonsense by refusing to convict. When the three strikes laws and mandatory drug sentencing laws were enacted, some jurors refused to prosecute based on disagreement with the sentencing guidelines. 

Unfortunately, a judge can set aside a jury's decision and with the number of Trump friendly black-robes growing, the people's voice can still be silenced. In this most recent case, "Akaash M. Singh, a high-ranking official at the Justice Department... told prosecutors that if sitting grand jurors rejected their efforts to bring serious charges, they should simply impanel new grand juries." Buddy, this was three grand jury impanelments. I think the rules of the game say Three strikes and you're out!