Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Comment on this quote Share via Email Print this Page [1-1] of 1 Yale Law Journal quotesYale Law Journal QuotesYale Law Journal The right of the jury to decide questions of law was widely recognized in the colonies. In 1771, John Adams stated unequivocally that a juror should ignore a judge’s instruction on the law if it violates fundamental principles: “It is not only ... [the juror’s] right, but his duty, in that case, to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment, and conscience, though in direct opposition to the direction of the court.” There is much evidence of the general acceptance of this principle in the period immediately after the Constitution was adopted.~ Yale Law Journal Share on Facebook Tweet Email Print