You are right, but I can also imagine the inverse where authoritarian laws cause activists or whistleblowers to be in jeopardy in contravention of all decency. The unevenness at the local level is problematic, but so is evenness of really bad laws.
For example, a jury should feel free to simply dismiss charges brought under the espionage act.
I should also point out that nullification was unfortunately mostly used to acquit lynchers. I'm not sure why precisely that only that particular heinous act inspired enough solidarity to nullify the law as opposed to anything good, so historically nullification has been mostly a bad thing.
> where authoritarian laws cause activists or whistleblowers to be in jeopardy in contravention of all decency
The short answer is jury nullification is an unavoidable thing. If matters get bad enough, it will kick in. (Though if things get that bad, they'll be eliminated.) That doesn't mean it should be encouraged.
The moment you let juries start deciding whether the law is just, versus deciding if a law was broken, you remove the veneer of objectivity that has kept our courts somewhat sacred. It also becomes problematic for lawyers to remove jurists for ridiculous political views, as it becomes a First Amendment issue. Currently, that isn't a problem--your political views don't matter. Only your objectivity does.
> The short answer is jury nullification is an unavoidable thing. If matters get bad enough, it will kick in. (Though if things get that bad, they'll be eliminated.) That doesn't mean it should be encouraged.
For example, a jury should feel free to simply dismiss charges brought under the espionage act.
I should also point out that nullification was unfortunately mostly used to acquit lynchers. I'm not sure why precisely that only that particular heinous act inspired enough solidarity to nullify the law as opposed to anything good, so historically nullification has been mostly a bad thing.