Cato Scholar: Stop Treating Jury Independence as a Defect
A 65-year-old retired doorman in Queens is heading to prison next month — not for killing his attacker in self-defense, but for possessing the unlicensed firearm that saved his life.
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In a recent op-ed titled He Held the Door for Years, But the Court Slammed One on Him, Cato scholar Mike Fox details how American juries have strayed from the founders’ intent of being the community’s conscience, in part writing:
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“We have replaced community conscience with a rubber stamp for the state. If we want a justice system that is truly constitutional, we must stop treating jury independence as a defect. An impartial jury is not one that does exactly what it is told; it is one that understands it has the power to simply say ‘no.’ ”
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To speak with Fox on his recent op-ed, contact Christopher Tarvardian.
