With everything going on in the world today, it seems likely that state-level attacks on Bitcoiners will continue to increase. Furthermore, as Bitcoin puts pressure on traditional power structures, the authorities will almost certainly extend or enact unconscionable laws to restrict, tax or otherwise frustrate the free flow of bitcoin capital.
Eventually, a Bitcoiner is likely to find themselves on a jury and asked to sit in judgment of another Bitcoiner charged with violating one of these unjust laws. It is my contention that all Bitcoiners need to at least have heard about jury nullification in advance as part of their toolkit to help resist, at the last possible moment, laws and state actions which most Bitcoiners would believe to be unethical.
What Exactly Is Jury Nullification?
Jury nullification[2] is a consequence of a fair and impartial jury system. Put most simply, it is the power of a criminal jury to return a not guilty verdict, even though the prosecution meets the legal burden for a guilty verdict. It often stems from changes in the societal moral compass, for instance, when an act is no longer deemed to be criminal by that day's standards. It is not, what one might call, an explicit right of a jury, but rather it is a necessary logical consequence of any system that purports to maintain a fair and impartial jury.
The United States Supreme Court held that[3], "Although a judge may direct a verdict for the defendant if the evidence is legally insufficient to establish guilt, he may not direct a verdict for the State, no matter how overwhelming the evidence.” In other words, if the jury returns a guilty verdict that the judge
