PennsylvaniaJury Nullification
Pennsylvania's constitution says that in indictments for libels the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court. The official text prints a note on the constitutionality of that section's criminal libel provisions. A court rule says the verdict shall be unanimous. A statewide questionnaire asks every prospective juror whether they would have any problem following and applying the judge's instruction on the law.
Overview
Juries in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's constitution speaks to the jury and the law in its section on the press. In all indictments for libels the jury shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direction of the court, as in other cases. The official text prints a note beside that section on the constitutionality of its criminal libel provisions.
Before a trial, every prospective juror fills in a statewide questionnaire, and one of its questions asks whether they would have any problem following and applying the judge's instruction on the law. For other trials, the wording a Pennsylvania jury hears is in the standard instructions, which are published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. The court rules say when a jury is instructed and what the first instructions should cover. What they list is in the Pennsylvania chapter of the guide.
A Pennsylvania court rule says the verdict shall be unanimous and announced in open court. Any party can ask for the jury to be polled before it is recorded. What happens when a juror does not concur is in the chapter.
The Pennsylvania chapter
What's in the Guide for Pennsylvania?
Jury selection
What Pennsylvania's court rules say every possible juror has to be told on arrival, the list of things a juror may not look up, and how often the judge has to repeat it.
What the judge tells you
The chapter explains the court rule on how and when a jury is instructed, and what that rule says the opening instructions should cover.
How the verdict works
What the unanimous verdict rule asks of a Pennsylvania jury, who has to be in the room when the verdict is announced, and how verdicts on some charges but not others work.
Protections and risks
What Pennsylvania's court rules expect of a juror outside the courtroom, what a juror is told to report, and how a verdict can be polled at any party's request.
The law in plain English
The Pennsylvania laws behind the chapter in everyday words. They include the court rules on instructing the jury, on verdicts and on what jurors are told at the start, with the sections of the constitution on the press and libel, on trial by jury and on the rights of the accused.
Official state resources
Links to Pennsylvania's official sources, each one checked. They cover the constitution and statutes on the General Assembly's site, the Rules of Criminal Procedure in the Pennsylvania Code, the publisher's listing for the standard instructions, and the state courts' Jury Duty page.
Your summons
Called for Jury Duty in Pennsylvania?
A Pennsylvania jury summons asks you to come to court. Under the court rules, jury service starts when you join the group that jurors are picked from, and your first instructions come when you arrive.
The Pennsylvania courts have a Jury Duty page. It covers reporting, who can serve, and how to ask to be excused.
That page covers serving. What you are told on arrival and what you may not look up, what the constitution says about the jury in libel cases, and how a verdict is announced and polled are covered in the Pennsylvania chapter of the guide.
Your Pennsylvania summons
- Sent byYour county's court of common pleas
- It asks you toCome to court
- Jury size12; by agreement fewer, but not fewer than 6