I think, therefore, it must be conceded that, in all cases, tried by a jury, Magna Carta intended that the punishment should be fixed by the jury, and not by the common law, for these several reasons.
Spooner concludes that Magna Carta intended for juries to fix punishments, not common law.
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From the sale of that justice which every citizen has a right to demand, it was an easy transition to withhold or deny it.
Therefore all their laws, as they call them,--that is, all the laws of their own making,--have no color of authority or obligation.
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.