June 8, 2006 1:55PM 

# Jury Nullification and Perjury 

By [Radley Balko](https://www.cato.org/people/radley-balko) 

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Here’s an interesting personal account on the perils of [jury nullification](https://www.cato.org/pubs/policy_report/v21n1/jury.html):

[Julian Sanchez](http://juliansanchez.com/notes/archives/2006/06/bte_voir.php) was called to jury duty in a drug case.

He was forced to decide whether to answer honestly when asked if he could convict a nonviolent drug offender (in which case he’d promptly be tossed from the jury), or to risk perjurying himself so he could nullify an immoral law once in deliberation.

[Jury nullification is a right](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163877,00.html) — perhaps even an obligation. Unfortunately, we’ve let prosecutors and courts effectively make it a crime.

We need a test case to move this issue before the Supreme Court. Prosecutors shouldn’t be allowed to hold the threat of perjury over potential nullifiers during *voir dire*.

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