On the record
Could this trial, then, have been such an entire farce as it necessarily must have been, if the jury had had no power to judge of the justice of the laws the people were required to obey?
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “Could this trial, then, have been such an entire farce as it necessarily must have been, if the jury had had no power to…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner questions the legitimacy of a trial if juries lack the power to judge the justice of the laws, advocating for jury independence.
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More from Lysander Spooner
All those who are not forbidden by law may be judges (jurors).
Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.
The will, or the pretended will, of the majority, is the last lurking place of tyranny at the present day.
They are every day committing errors, which would be crimes, but for their ignorance of the law.