Archives West Finding Aid

The Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA), an organization based in Helena, Montana, was formed in 1989 by Larry Dodge and Don Doig with the declared mission to educate juries on their constitutional right to judge the law. FIJA declares that the most critical function of a jury is not to hand out punishment to fellow citizens, but instead to protect them from bad laws. In this way juries can defend citizens from harmful government, as well as the potentially harmful individuals being tried. The effect is most often termed jury nullification, when a jury votes not to convict even if the facts in a case are clear.

The collection contains publications and clippings ranging from 1988 to 1997. The first series contains items published by FIJA, ranging from newsletters to pamphlets. The first box contains FIJA’s national newsletter, the FIJActivist. These date from 1990 to 1996 and are nearly complete. The FIJA National folder contains materials published by FIJA in Helmville as well as ads/public service announcements placed in various publications. Other folders contain materials published by state-wide FIJA chapters.

The second series contains a wide variety of published articles written about FIJA which appeared in newspapers and other periodicals. The series is primarily newspaper clippings that have been organized by subject. The Activism folder contains clippings on FIJA and other jury nullification activists from around the United States. The Activism: Arrests/Trials of FIJA members contains clippings on FIJA activists who were arrested for their involvement in FIJA activities, most notably Californian Jim Hansberger and Montana local Dixianne Hawks. The Far Right Fringe folder contains clippings that discuss the FIJA's connection to radical right-wing organizations such as the militia movement and neo-nazi activists. The Jury Rights Day folder contains clippings about September 5th, the day state FIJA organizations attempted to have each of their states proclaim a Jury Rights Day. The folder also contains copies of several states’ gubernatorial proclamations concerning the day. The Fully Informed Jury Legislation folder contains clippings about various states' legislation concerning the Fully Informed Jury Amendment (FIJA), an amendment that each state’s FIJA sought to pass that would require judges to inform juries of their right to judge the law. The Media Coverage folder contains clippings of more general information about FIJA reported on by journalists or guest columnists, and the Rebuttals folder includes replies from FIJA activists, mainly Dodge and Doig, refuting information appearing in news articles. Lastly, the Trial Coverage folder consists of clippings pertaining to cases where jury nullification or jury-tampering was an issue.