But each written law, in order to be a law, must be taken only in some one definite and distinct sense; and that definite and distinct sense must be selected from the almost infinite variety of senses which its words are capable of.
Spooner states that a written law must be understood in a specific sense to be valid.
Share
More from Lysander Spooner
When two men meet one upon the highway, or in the wilderness, have they a right to dispose of his life, liberty, or property at their pleasure, simply because they are the more numerous party?
And he can rightfully be held to no greater knowledge of the law than this.
And the right is practically established only when and because the government, no longer exists to call it in question.
They were even allowed to grant pardon to criminals, and to correct by their clemency the rigors of justice.