A jury's acquittal in a manslaughter case and a liberal politician's opposition to restrictions on guns indicate the impact of Maine's local political culture, which strongly supports guns and hunting. Similarly, data regarding jury decisions in Florida in the late 1970's, three counties in California in the late 1980's, and in New York State between 1987 and 1990 indicate that juries seem to take community political values into account. They do this in both their ordinary work, in which the correctness of the law is taken for granted, and in special situations in which the application of the law is questioned. Juries do so because they are a segment of the public, not because they are obliged to follow community norms. However, these conclusions are based on weak empirical data and should be examined in the future through research in which the fact and law are held constant and the nature of the political culture is varied. Footnotes