FIJA Speakers
Kirsten C. Tynan
Executive Director, Fully Informed Jury Association
Kirsten Tynan has been educating people for more than a decade on the protective role of the jury and the full rights and authority of jurors. Her educational work places special focus on jurors' right to temper the law with mercy through jury nullification to deliver just verdicts.
In her time with FIJA, Kirsten has testified in federal court, spoken to community groups around the country (both in person and online), presented in academic settings, at political conventions, at professional legal conferences and CLE courses, and at a TEDx conference. Her presentations cover a wide variety of historic and modern topics, from general introductions to jury rights to more in-depth treatment of specific issues related to the role of the jury in protecting individual rights and liberty.
Request a presentation from the list below, or ask Kirsten to cover specific topics of special interest to your group.
Presentations
- Jury Duty Is for Heroes
A motivational talk designed to combat negative stereotypes about jurors, inspire people to welcome jury service as a valuable opportunity, and introduce people to the use of jury nullification to deliver just verdicts. - Jury Nullification 101
This introduction to jury nullification covers the historic foundations of jury nullification in the United States' criminal legal system, its legal status in our current jury system, both historic and modern examples, and an introductory tutorial on how to exercise this right in practice. - Dirty Secrets of the American Jury System
In this presentation, Kirsten covers a number of aspects of the criminal legal system in the United States that undermine jurors' protective role and legal authority as the final arbiter in our courts of law. - Jury Nullification and the First Amendment
In this two-part presentation, Kirsten covers examples of how jury nullification gave rise to at least four of the five freedoms specifically mentioned in the First Amendment. Then she flips the topics around to examine how FIJA has successfully argued for protection of juror rights educators' work at courthouses under the First Amendment. - Prohibition on the Rocks: How Jurors 86ed the 18th Amendment
Through this presentation, we share with you select stories from FIJA's extensive research on the role of jury nullification in repealing the 18th Amendment (federal alcohol prohibition) less than fifteen years. Prepare for some funny stories of how jurors undermined prosecution of their peaceful neighbors for victimless alcohol-related offenses! - After the Verdict: How Courts Harm Jurors through Deceit
Moral injury is a term referring to the fallout that occurs (cognitive, emotional, spiritual, etc.) when someone has witnessed, failed to prevent, or perpetrated acts that violate their deeply-held convictions about what is right. This term was originally used in reference to the experiences of combat veterans, but it has since been recognized as experienced by others such as healthcare professionals and first responders. In this talk, Kirsten discusses how jurors are misled by courts into moral injury—including when courts withhold information or lie to them about their right to show mercy via jury nullification. She will share real life examples of how this has affected those who have served and discuss why fully informing jurors is the only fair thing to do when people are mandated to participate in jury service. - or ask Kirsten to customize a presentation to cover topics of specific interest to your group!
Past Presentations
- State of the American Jury System 2022, hosted by the Fully Informed Jury Association, 25 January 2021
- Instead of Jury Nullification Legislation..., Montana Libertarian Party Officers Convention, Kalispell, Montana, 18 September 2021
- Jury Duty Is for Heroes, Jury Rights Day presentation hosted by the Fully Informed Jury Association, 5 September 2021
- Know Your Power as a Juror, hosted by the McCormick Theological Seminary's Solidarity Building Initiative, 1 May 2021
- State of the American Jury System 2021, hosted by the Fully Informed Jury Association, 25 January 2021
- Jury Duty Is for Heroes, Montana Libertarian State Delegate Convention, Billings, Montana, February 2020
- Jury Duty Is for Heroes, TEDxHieronymusPark, Hamilton, Montana, January 2020
- Not Guilty: Your Most Powerful Vote, Montana Libertarian State Delegate Convention, Butte, Montana, 19 May 2018
- The People's Pardon: Jury Nullification In The American Legal System, hosted by Heirs of the Republic, 11 April 2018
- The People's Pardon: Jury Nullification In The American Legal System, hosted by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of California San Diego, 6 April 2018
- Sweet Justice: The Conscientious Acquittal Movement, hosted by the Flathead County Libertarian Party and the Montana Libertarian Party, Kalispell, Montana, 9 February 2018
- Jury Nullification and the First Amendment, First Amendment Lawyers Association Summer Meeting CLE, 22 July 2017
- Six of One, Three Quarters of a Dozen of the Other: Jury Size, Jury Unanimity, and the Justice of Criminal Verdicts, 53rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, "Juries and Jury Nullification in Law and Practice" panel, 2 April 2016
- How to Save a Life with Just Two Words, hosted by the Republican Women's Club of Montezuma County, Cortez, Colorado, 18 April 2016
- How to Save a Life with Just Two Words, at the Liberty Now convention hosted by the Libertarian Party of Texas, 9 April 2016
- Queering the Jury: Taking Back Decriminalization, with Mike Shipley, hosted by Outright Libertarians and the Fully Informed Jury Association, 18 July 2015
- Jury Nullification and Ending the Prison State in Utah, with Nathan Goodman, hosted by the Fully Informed Jury Association, Salt Lake City Library, 24 June 2014
- Conscience Verdicts: Using Jury Nullification to Quell the War on Drugs, panel at the 2013 International Drug Policy Reform Conference, hosted by the Drug Policy Alliance, Denver, October 2013
Location: western Montana
Available to travel: nationwide
Online presentations: yes
Email Kirsten (kirsten@fija.org) to inquire about booking a presentation.
