Current Events, Resistance, and Jury Nullification

This current events episode uses ICE arrests of public officials and protestors as the vehicle for a discussion of jury nullification as a constitutional or political practice. We begin with the story of abolitionist interference with the renditions—a word in the news again—of fugitives from enslavement as authorized by the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act. We use jury nullification to explore the opposition between “law” and “non-law” in political practice. We also discuss more briefly some aspects of the First Amendment defenses Harvard University is mounting against the Trump administration’s attacks—and reflect even more briefly on the importance of preserving civil society’s institutions as proto-authoritarians seek to move their agenda forward.