“Jury Nullification: The Current State of the Law”

The title of this post is the title of this notable new resource authored by Louisa Heiny now available via SSRN.  Here is its abstract:

In 2018, the Utah legislature considered a proposed bill that would have explicitly granted jurors the right to nullify in criminal cases.  This research, done in preparation for committee testimony, contains the most up-to-date law on the topic.  It includes a fifty-state survey on whether juries in various jurisdictions are (1) given the right to consider the possible sentencing penalty before rendering a verdict; (2) told they may disregard the law; or (3) instructed on the right to nullify.  Additionally, the research includes fifty-state survey data on whether judges may lie to juries about the right to nullify, and how various jurisdictions treat attempts by outside organizations to notify potential jurors of their right to nullify.