On the record
It was impossible that this right of the jury could subsist consistently with any right, on the part of the king, to impose any authoritative legislation upon them.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “It was impossible that this right of the jury could subsist consistently with any right, on the part of the king, to…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that the jury's right to judge cannot coexist with the king's authority to impose laws on them.
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More from Lysander Spooner
They cannot claim or expect that the whole people shall practise the folly of taking on trust their pretended superior knowledge, and of committing blindly into their hands all their own interests, liberties, and rights, to be disposed of…
All other laws, it is optional with each man to obey, or not, as he may choose.
If the authority be vested in the government, the governmnt is absolute, and the people have no liberties except such as the government sees fit to indulge them with.
It is also sheer impudence, on their part, to assume that their commands are at all necessary to teach other men what is, and what is not, justice.