First (I'll get to the gossip in a second), today I had jury duty. I could have kept quiet about my views on jury nullification, but in practice that was easier said than done.

The judge asked the 56 of us something like, "Are there any of you who, no matter how silly or stupid what I tell you may sound when giving you [legal] instructions, would have any hesitation in following those instructions?"

I couldn't just sit there.

So I raised my hand -- the only person to do so.

The judge was not confrontational or unfriendly, but when he asked me about this, I explained that I believed juries had the right to judge both the law and the facts.