Two activists have been charged with jury tampering for handing out pamphlets on jury nullification on the pedestrian plaza outside the Lindsey-Flannigan Courthouse in Denver. (YourHub file)
Re: “Jury nullification is not a crime, Denver,” Aug. 19 editorial.
Your excellent editorial highlights free-speech threats in the arrests of activists for distributing jury nullification pamphlets outside a Denver courtroom.
Under the notorious Sedition Act of 1798, which outlawed criticizing the government, courts instructed juries to consider only whether an accused editor had written his offending article — not whether the law was just. Juries complied and men went to jail for using their First Amendment rights.
Nullification is a vital debate with compelling arguments on both sides. It should continue unfettered, in newspapers and outside courtrooms.
One correction: Founder Alexander Hamilton, born in the 1750s, was not, as the editorial states, the attorney for Colonial Era libel defendant John Peter Zenger, who was indicted in 1735. The confusion is understandable — Zenger’s attorneys were James Alexander and Andrew Hamilton.
Charles Slack, Trumbull, Conn.
This letter was published in the Aug. 21 edition.Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to watch the “activists” outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse and what I witnessed had very little to do with First Amendment rights. Over several minutes, I watched the group of four people huddle in the landscaping, eat pizza, and litter on the plaza. When a police officer walked by the group, one of them jumped up with a bullhorn and started screaming profanities at the officer, who kept his composure and walked into the courthouse. The group also yelled obscenities at several city employees.
I am a firm believer in First Amendment rights, but what I witnessed appeared to only be an excuse for four unhappy people to congregate and try and get a little attention.
Christopher Lawler, Denver
This letter was published in the Aug. 21 edition.
