Register to vote, even if you don't vote? - Liberty.me

Register to vote, even if you don't vote?

Tags: court jury nullification registration voting

Ken Jons-un October 21, 2014 at 10:12 pm

Many people say voting doesn’t matter or that if you vote then you are giving some credence to that system. I’d like to pose the idea here that even if you do not vote, for any number of reasons, you should still register to vote.

The point I’m floating is that some states only pull jurors from the voter roll. While even the most staunch anarchist may not want to condone a monopoly court system they may be skipping a chance to free their fellow man with a simple jury nullification act. It could be a big case or a small one. Either way it is an opportunity to make an example, educate fellow jurors, thumb your nose at the system that forces itself upon you or all of the above. Worse case, your boss has to let you off work for a day or you miss some time fishing if you do not work. In the best case you might help a person accused of a victim-less crime who otherwise will loose many days of their life, suffer economically and face the stigma of a court record for years. At the same time it will impact the effort your own local court has put into prosecuting such a non-crime. Pipe dreamers might even say that the more frequent jury nullification is in action that it will result in less prosecution of non-violent people since prosecutors will not want to waste their time.

I hear you, “What if I get a case on a violent offense and then I don’t want to participate?” At the first opportunity you can openly ask the judge or public attorney about jury nullification. Think they won’t quickly dismiss you? You would be back to work before lunch and you might have caused a curious fellow juror to look up nullification.

Chime in, I’d love to hear your take on the pros/cons of serving on a jury.

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Mike Vroman October 22, 2014 at 10:57 am

First, serving on juries is one of the most important things we can do. Instead of looking at your personal inconvenience of serving, think of having a good friend or relative convicted to prison for a minor offense because the jury was packed with unsympathetic busybodies as a result of good people refusing to serve as a protest against the system. Good people protesting could cause a good person to be imprisoned, in exchange for no discernable result. In this result, by refusing to serve on a jury, good people have done more harm than good.

Similarly, steadfastly refusing to vote under any circumstance is self-defeating. Granted, in most large scale elections an individual vote counts for little, and there may be little difference between candidates. Two things should be considered, though. Local elections are frequently decided by just a few, or even one, votes, and sometimes these local elections result in huge, tangible changes in the lives of those in the community. These local votes should not be haughtily dismissed as endorsements of the system, they should be embraced as an opportunity to improve the lives of yourself and your neighbors. Second, claiming that everyone who runs for office is corrupt and immoral simply because they are running for office is a completely unfounded generalization which is no more accurate than saying all liberty activists are drugged up hippies.

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Calin Brabandt October 23, 2014 at 3:58 am

Voter registration is also a factor in determinations of residency. Though any consistently-thinking anarchist has no respect for make believe lines across the earth, we are being held captive by the statist system and concepts like nationality and residency are imposed on us by the system.

>You would be back to work before lunch …

This has not been my experience. My master in the black robe always makes me sit out my full term of conscripted service (in “the room”), regardless, as a form of punishment for my beliefs, no doubt.

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  Chip Marce October 23, 2014 at 5:03 pm
  
  Well, you’re stuck being a resident someplace, unless you’ve figured out a way to do things like get a drivers license without one.
  
  I’m a fan of registering for the possibility of jury privilege, although the chances of that actually happening in my state are about as high as winning the lotto. I also think that voting in some cases is a good thing to do, although admittedly I’m not seeing much point in doing so this election.
  
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Calin Brabandt October 23, 2014 at 6:34 pm

In most municipalities and states, there is no single artifact associated with residency (including a drivers license). Usually residency is a place where you intend to return-to and it is supported by many factors. Residency is also often interpreted differently by different government entities.

>I’m a fan of registering for the possibility of jury privilege…

If saying “no” doesn’t get you out of it, it’s not a privilege. Is rape a privilege?

I’m not saying there are not any situations where I would avoid being on a jury. I’ve revealed some of my feelings and beliefs about the matter in the other thread. For the most part, the downside of my participation in the law industry as a juror is the personal risk I incur while being true to my beliefs. (I have been conscripted to jury “duty” several times during my life.) Yeah–I’ve read all the FIJA publications and it’s rare for a juror to receive anything stronger than “instructions,” (jury tampering) reprimands, or threats from a tyrannical black-robed Mullah, but I still prefer to avoid the law industry, in general.

Though I was an airline pilot in a former life, I now also refuse to fly airlines for the same reason. (I avoid being in the presence of people who lack respect for liberty and the NAP and can throw me in a cage at their whim or murder me, if I resist their tyranny.)

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