Racially Based Jury Nullification Black Power Essay

An Analysis of â€Å"Racially Based Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Criminal Justice system† by Paul Butler Introduction The article Racially Based Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Criminal Justice system was written in December, 1995 in a Yale Law Journal by Paul Butler, and then later republished in 2015 in Introduction to Legal Studies. This article was published in North America, for academics in the law stream, or anyone with an interest in law. The author poses different views on the racism in todays court rooms faced by African Americans. In this essay, I will examine the article in detail to determine whether or not the author has been accurate with his conclusions, and whether these conclusions apply today. Summary of Article Paul Butler is an African American lawyer whom practiced as a prosecutor (2) specializing in white collar criminal defense and civil litigation (3). He graduated with honors from both Yale University and Harvard Law School (4). Butler is currently a law professor at the Georgetown University Law Center (5). Paul Butler is now considered a scholar in racial law (6). This particular article enters into this subject. The question that the article Racially Based Jury Nullification: Black Power in the Criminal Justice system by Paul Butler is the role of race in black jurors’ decisions to acquit defendants in criminal cases, and what the role should be (1). Butler believes that this question is an important question to answer due to theShow MoreRelatedJury Nullification1461 Words   |  6 PagesJURY NULLIFICATION Jury Nullification Paper University of Phoenix Theresa Weekly December 5, 2010 Introduction Jury nullification is the act of a jury in exonerating a defendant, even though they are truly guilty of violating the law. When this happens, the defendant is found innocent, even though without an act of jury nullification they would have been foundRead MoreThe Jury System And The Criminal Justice Process1639 Words   |  7 Pages Jury duty is lampooned frequently in the popular culture as being a dreadfully boring waste of time and energy that keeps us all away from the more important things in life such as family, work, and getting drunk. Indeed, most of the time, juries see cases that are often dull and certain. Unfortunately, not all cases can be high profile, riveting murder cases that Nancy Grace can shrill on and on about for months on end. Perhaps worst of all, it is something that we are forced to do, and AmericansRead MoreEssay on Jury Nullification and Its Effects on Black America3918 Words   |  16 Pages Jury Nullification and Its Effects on Black America   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It is obvious that significant improvements have been made in the way that the criminal justice system deals with Blacks during the history of the United States. Blacks have not always been afforded a right to trial, not to mention a fair one. Additionally, for years, Blacks were unable to serve on juries, clearly affecting the way both Blacks and whites were tried. Much of this improvement has been achieved through various court decisionsRead MoreRace-Based Jury Nullification2032 Words   |  9 PagesRace-based Jury Nullification Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice Race-based Jury Nullification Racial differences within the court system of the United States can create various interpretations of laws and the impartiality of such laws. Minorities within this country may believe that the criminal justice system has prejudices and may dismiss the legality of certain laws. Jury nullification is a process in which members of the jury exonerate a person of a guilty verdict although theRead MoreThe Effects Of Slavery On African American Communities1688 Words   |  7 Pagesprotection of slavery by the Constitution and Southern politicians. The institution of slavery was necessary to maintain high production rate. Following the revolt of poor and armed whites in Bacon’s rebellion in 1676, Southern economy switched toward black slave labor. Unlike white indentured servants, slaves were properties. Planters felt that the rules and obligations of being a good humanitarian did not apply to slaves, which justified their cruelty. Edward Baptist noted that â€Å"Sarah Wells remembered