Lysander Spooner: “At the common law a man was born to the right to sit in juries.”

In that case the trial is really a trial by the government, and not by the jury.

That the legislation of the king was of no authority over a jury, is further proved by the oath taken by the kings at their coronation.

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?

But there is no reason why a judge should have the power of punishing, for contempt, any more than for any other offence.