George Costanza
A Friendly Liberal
It's not placing ANYTHING above the law its deciding if the law that was made by man is immoral or illegal. Plain and simple. So yea it is very consistent with freedom and liberty. 2 things you know nothing about.
Sorry, but jury nullification is by definition a member of a jury placing themselves above the law. A juror that placed themselves below the law would decide guilt or innocence based on whether the facts of the case fit the elements of the crime as defined by the law - and not their own personal preferences as to what the law should be.
This kind of reasoning is why I know you are not a scientist of any type. If someone thinks they are above the law they believe the law applies to others, but not themselves. A jury that nullifies a law is saying the law does not apply to others so, by definition, they are not putting themselves above the law.
If the law says that someone who possesses marijuana is guilty of a crime, and a jury acquits someone who possessed marijuana solely because they disagree with the law, they are most certainly placing themselves above the law. They are, in effect saying, "since we disagree with the law, we are going to discard it in this case."
If that is not placing oneself above the law, I don't know what it.