Future Retirement Success
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Investing
  • Stocks

Future Retirement Success

Investing

Zenger at 290: The Jury’s Duty to Say No to Government Oppression

by August 4, 2025
August 4, 2025
Zenger at 290: The Jury’s Duty to Say No to Government Oppression

Mike Fox

Two hundred ninety years ago today, in what would come to be known as a celebrated early example of jury nullification in the New World, a New York jury freed dissident publisher John Peter Zenger from the clutches of a government determined to silence its critics. With British subjugation fresh in their minds, the Framers envisioned the jury as far more than a fact-finding body. They saw it as a critical fortress, a bulwark against government oppression. They had witnessed firsthand the biased verdicts of judges loyal to the Crown, and in response, they enshrined the right to a trial by a jury of one’s peers in the very foundation of the new nation’s legal system.

The Framers understood the jury trial to be a bedrock of criminal adjudication. At the Founding, the function of the criminal jury was not confined to determining guilt. Instead, jury service empowered ordinary citizens to act as a check on the wrongful exercise of state power, preventing the arbitrary or oppressive application of the law. Jurors were the community’s voice, ensuring that the extraordinary power of the state would not be used for tyrannical ends. In fact, the right to a criminal trial by jury is the only right mentioned in both the unamended text of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, a testament to its profound importance. The Constitution explicitly commands that the trial of “all” federal crimes be by jury, a command underscored by the Sixth Amendment’s declaration that “in all criminal prosecutions” a defendant has the right to a public trial by an impartial jury.

The historical conception of a criminal jury stands in stark contrast to the hollowed-out version jurors are led to believe exists today. When Zenger published pieces critical of New York’s royal governor, William Cosby, he was charged with seditious libel. But his jury exercised a prerogative that criminal jurors still possess today—the power to acquit against the evidence when justice demands.

Whether protecting dissident publishers like Zenger from politically motivated prosecutions or acquitting abolitionists prosecuted for delivering fellow human beings from bondage under the Fugitive Slave Act, jury nullification was employed without controversy before, during, and after the Founding to safeguard victims of an excessively punitive government.

Founding-era jurors were the last line of defense against unjust convictions and punishments. They could blunt the force of immoral laws and arbitrary prosecutions by refusing to subject their neighbors to unjust laws or overtly cruel punishments.

These historical powers and duties included more than just the prerogative to acquit against the evidence. Jurors could ask questions, including what would happen to the defendant if they were to convict, and draw inferences from how those questions were answered or ignored. Additionally, jurors weren’t required to accept the judge’s interpretation of the law, despite being told that they must.

These powers still unquestionably exist today. Yet in a stark and extraordinary shift from past practice, modern criminal jurors are misled to believe that they’re merely fact finders.

Today, prosecutors and judges—often former courtroom advocates for the government—go to considerable lengths to curate the jury pool, ensuring that those who best understand the historic injustice-preventing role of a juror are among the least likely to serve. System actors work tirelessly to shape the perspective of those who do get to serve, all but guaranteeing they won’t say no—no matter how unjust the prosecution or how draconian the sentence.

With a president who has shown a willingness to use the coercive power of the Justice Department to target his adversaries, this historical role of the jury is all the more important. Just as Zenger’s jury defied a tyrannical governor, jurors today can—and should—defy the unjust application of laws that undermine the very premise upon which this nation was founded and tear at the conscience of the community.

0
FacebookTwitterGoogle +Pinterest
previous post
What Is SameAgeDates? A Closer Look at Presence‑Driven Dating
next post
Trump’s tariff power grab barrels toward Supreme Court

You may also like

Whose Liability Is It Anyway? CBDC Edition

August 7, 2023

Trump Shouldn’t Cook the Books at the BLS,...

August 18, 2025

The Fourth Amendment Is Meant To Protect People...

September 19, 2023

“Foreign Debt” or “Foreign Investment”? How the Trade...

April 25, 2023

WSJ Ed Board Knifes Fourth Amendment, Betrays Journal’s...

March 27, 2024

Friday Feature: Challenger School

May 26, 2023

The Government Cheats, Loses, and Cheats Again to...

August 16, 2023

Checking in with the Cato Private Schooling Status...

August 5, 2024

A New Methadone Playbook: How DOGE and Deregulation...

April 2, 2025

New Data Show Migrants Were More Likely to...

November 2, 2023

    Get free access to all of the retirement secrets and income strategies from our experts! or Join The Exclusive Subscription Today And Get the Premium Articles Acess for Free

    By opting in you agree to receive emails from us and our affiliates. Your information is secure and your privacy is protected.

    Recent Posts

    • Earn $8,800 a day in passive income using your smartphone – Siton Mining Launches New Multi-Currency Cloud Mining App for BTC, XRP, and DOGE

      August 24, 2025
    • Trump gave the Oval Office a gilded makeover – and covered the cost himself

      August 24, 2025
    • Trump learns a lesson grounded in faith, how best to stand tough on trade with China

      August 24, 2025
    • Latest Decode Casino Bonus Code Deals You Shouldn’t Miss

      August 24, 2025
    • Israel set to launch Gaza City offensive: High stakes, high costs ahead

      August 24, 2025
    • New RNC chair Joe Gruters vows to ‘ride the president all the way to victory’ in midterms

      August 24, 2025

    Categories

    • Business (8,867)
    • Investing (2,235)
    • Politics (16,474)
    • Stocks (3,228)
    • About us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Disclaimer: futureretirementsuccess.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

    Copyright © 2025 futureretirementsuccess.com | All Rights Reserved