In my recent piece about “The Wire” I took issue with the writers’ call for jury nullification in drug cases. David Feige makes a salient point about this:
The problem is that in taking their pledge to nullify, the authors have gently finessed a rather difficult and practical point. In order to acquit or hang a jury, one has to get on that jury, and the only way to do that is, well, to lie about one’s intentions. This is no small omission.
I think the authors were less concerned with practicality than with taking a stance that would be praised as “a stunning and brazen act of courage,” as Feige describes it. In other words, their statement was a piece of posturing. I remain a big fan of their show, however.
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