Michelle Alexander is the author of the landmark The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Era of Colorblindness, required reading for anyone who dares call themselves a marijuana activist. Her latest opinion piece in the New York Times offers a compelling bit of civil obedience that could bring this prison-industrial complex to a screeching halt – simply exercising our Sixth Amendment rights:
(New York Times) AFTER years as a civil rights lawyer, I rarely find myself speechless. But some questions a woman I know posed during a phone conversation one recent evening gave me pause: “What would happen if we organized thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of people charged with crimes to refuse to play the game, to refuse to plea out? What if they all insisted on their Sixth Amendment right to trial? Couldn’t we bring the whole system to a halt just like that?”
The Bill of Rights guarantees the accused basic safeguards, including the right to be informed of charges against them, to an impartial, fair and speedy jury trial, to cross-examine witnesses and to the assistance of counsel.
But in this era of mass incarceration — when our nation’s prison population has quintupled in a few decades partly as a result of the war on drugs and the “get tough” movement — these rights are, for the overwhelming majority of people hauled into courtrooms across America, theoretical. More than 90 percent of criminal cases are never tried before a jury. Most people charged with crimes forfeit their constitutional rights and plead guilty.
The system of mass incarceration depends almost entirely on the cooperation of those it seeks to control. If everyone charged with crimes suddenly exercised his constitutional rights, there would not be enough judges, lawyers or prison cells to deal with the ensuing tsunami of litigation. Not everyone would have to join for the revolt to have an impact; as the legal scholar Angela J. Davis noted, “if the number of people exercising their trial rights suddenly doubled or tripled in some jurisdictions, it would create chaos.”
My friend, activist Jennifer Alexander, has a t-shirt that read: “No Plea for Me”. Hmm. What if we did this? What if NORML got thousands of attorneys to back us up pro bono if we did? It’s something to consider.
Contact your elected representatives and urge them to 'Stop Arresting Marijuana Smokers'. 
Go to Facebook group “Jury Nullification!” and Join.
Liberty activists in New Hampshire have been flyering the local courts for the past year or so with pamphlets urging just this strategy. Others who want to help spread the message can read about it here, and download a printable uncopyrighted flyer:
http://freekeene.com/2011/03/03/new-flyer-dont-take-the-plea-deal-now-for-nh-and-national/
GREAT book! Required reading indeed!
Occupy Justice!!! (Angela Davis is one of the few autographs I own, along with Jim Brown NFL)
Great job Russ by the way, at the Baker Institute.
I would pay cash money to watch you dismantle Sabet anytime!
As a musician, I have experienced “flop sweat” (I’m sure you have too as a player).
This is to say, I recognize it, and I think Sabet found a “weight loss muse” – just keep
debating (Radical) Russ Belville. He could drown! Here’s hoping he has enough hubris to try it again!
Thanks again Russ, GREAT job.
Sorry to say I can’t catch the live shows due to the time change, but glad it’s there…
Respect… L.T. Huffman…
Great article Michelle. I bet it would be very difficult to find a jury as well considering only 1 person out of 12 have to vote not guilty and more than 50% of American think it ought to be legal. We should be educating people on their rights to refuse to convict or nullify.