In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed U.W. Clemon as Alabama’s first black federal judge. Judge Clemon served for 29 years before retiring to private practice. I don’t remember the source, but the new judge encouraged his fellow black citizens to take their turn on jury duty to prevent some of the injustices visited upon black criminal defendants by all-white juries.
Clemon helped educate folks about the power of a mistrial caused by a hung jury. When a unanimous decision is needed for conviction, it “only takes one” to block it. The requirement for a unanimous verdict is a genius protection placed in our system by the Founders. Marc Caputo notes that the MAGA machine is ready to use a hung jury as a “victory” for fund-raising and campaigning.
From Caputo’s insightful article in The Bulwark, which is free to the public: If (a hung jury) happens, Trump allies suspect that it will be chiefly due to the one juror who has made friendly eye contact with Trump from time to time as the jury enters the room and walks right past the defense table.
From “Trump Legal Team Pins Hopes on Hung Jury,” by Marc A. Caputo, The Bulwark, May 28, 2024
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