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> In some countries courts have the option to honor the spirit of the law instead of the letter when deciding in favor of the defendant.

In the US as well, though the system is geared toward hiding that fact.

Jury nullification is a thing, though if you admit to have heard about it you'll be booted off the jury.

Judges may not have as much leeway in sentencing as they used to, but they do for verdicts, though no judge likes to be reversed on appeal, the threat of which tends to constrain verdicts and opinions (which sometimes seems to lead to more creativity in findings of fact).




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