A Book by Benjamin Kolin

Jury Nullification

Power, Controversy, and the Future of Citizen Justice

Every criminal jury in America holds a power the courtroom is not allowed to mention: the power to acquit a defendant the state has proven guilty, and to make that acquittal final. Judges cannot review it. Prosecutors cannot appeal it. Jurors discover it, when they discover it at all, from history, folklore, or a billboard in Times Square.

This book is a true accounting of that power — the courtroom mechanics, the four-century history from a starved London jury to the trials of the present, the law as it actually stands, the people punished for describing it, its gravest abuses, and how legal systems around the world have answered the same question with erasers, chaperones, and abolition. It is written for curious readers first and lawyers second, and it takes no side it hasn't shown its work for.

First edition forthcoming, 2026 — in paperback, hardcover, and ebook. The purchase link will appear here at publication.