On the record
Pecuniary punishments were the most common punishments at that day, and the foregoing provisions of Magna Carta show that the amount of those punishments was to be fixed by the jury.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “Pecuniary punishments were the most common punishments at that day, and the foregoing provisions of Magna Carta show…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner notes that during his time, juries were responsible for determining the amount of pecuniary punishments.
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More from Lysander Spooner
One answer is, that this power, which juries have of judging of the law, is not a power of absolute decision in all cases.
What else than ignorance of the law is it that excuses persons under the years of discretion, and men of imbecile minds?
And the right is practically established only when and because the government, no longer exists to call it in question.
The people considered their jurisprudence as a part of their inheritance.