Informing jurors of their nullification power: A route to a just verdict or judicial chaos?

The current studies sought to test whether explicitly informing jurors of t heir power to nullify the law does invite "chaos," defined by jurists as un disciplined and biased juror judgment. A series of four studies examined ju ror biases predicated on defendant status, remorse, gender, national origin , penalty severity, and extenuating circumstances. None, however, were ampl ified by nullification instructions, providing little evidence that such in structions invite chaos with respect to the biases examined in these studie s. To the contrary, several results suggested that nullification instructio ns simply encourage jurors to nullify when the strict application of the la w would result in an unjust verdict. Limitations of the studies and public policy issues are discussed.