A New York jury acquitted publisher John Peter Zenger of seditious libel in 1735 in what the National Constitution Center correctly calls “an early example of jury nullification.” Three centuries later, another New York jury was falsely instructed that it lacked that power, thereby rendering its guilty verdict against another high-profile defendant, former President Donald Trump, constitutionally infirm.

Juries have always had the power to acquit against the evidence, and telling them otherwise violates the Sixth Amendment and due process.