Washington, D.C.

Paul Butler, a professor of law at George Washington University and former Washington prosecutor, said Wednesday, that jurors should use their power to be change agents against the dysfunctional policies of the criminal justice system.

To take a stand against the mass incarceration debilitating poor Black and Hispanic communities, Butler called on jurors to evoke a strategy known as jury nullification, a theme Butler discusses widely in his recently published book, Let's Get Free: A Hip-Hop Theory of Justice.

“The jurors of D.C., I learned, would acquit people that they knew were guilty, mainly in drug cases. The reason that they would say that [the guilty were innocent] is because they didn’t want to send another Black man to jail,” said Butler.

The United States incarcerates more people than any other country in the history of the free world, according to Butler who notes that U.S. prisoners make up 20 percent of the global incarceration rate.

“Of course we should lock up murderers and rapists for the protection of everybody. But we should take a different approach on other issues such non-violent drug crimes. If we release many of the 500,000 people who are locked up for drug crimes, we would be safer,” said Butler, insisting that states like New York that have reduced the prison population have seen their crime rates go down.

At the foundation of Butler’s argument is logic, Butler insisted. Massive incarceration does little to obstruct crime, quell violence, suppress the solicitation of drugs or strengthen communities, Butler said during a debate hosted by the Center for American Progress, an independent Washington think tank.

Butler’s journey from Department of Justice prosecutor to jury nullification advocate also stems from personal experience. Years ago, Butler was arrested on the street and charged with a crime he didn’t commit. Butler has written extensively about the experience of standing alongside the people he’d spent his career sending to prison.