On the record
On this trial his plea is, that in killing the sheriff, he was simply exercising his natural right of defending his property against an unjust law.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “On this trial his plea is, that in killing the sheriff, he was simply exercising his natural right of defending his…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that a defendant can claim natural rights when resisting an unjust law, even leading to violent outcomes.
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More from Lysander Spooner
The will, or the pretended will, of the majority, is the last lurking place of tyranny at the present day.
The people considered their jurisprudence as a part of their inheritance.
And whenever any number of men, calling themselves a government, do anything to another man, or to his property, which they had no right to do as individuals they thereby declare themselves trespassers, robbers, or murderers, according to…
Juries would refuse to enforce a tax against a man who had never agreed to pay it.