On the record
Any infringement or restriction of the common law right of the whole body of the freemen of the kingdom to eligibility as jurors, was legally an abolition of the trial by jury itself.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “Any infringement or restriction of the common law right of the whole body of the freemen of the kingdom to eligibility…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that any limitation on who can serve as a juror undermines the very concept of trial by jury.
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More from Lysander Spooner
They do not carry their heads high, above all other men, and demand our reverence and admiration, as statesmen, patriots, and benefactors.
They do not tell us that we are the freest and happiest people on earth, inasmuch as each of our male adults is allowed one voice in ten millions in the choice of the men, who are to rob, enslave, and murder us.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.
They neither ask, nor expect, any mercy, if they should ever fall into the hands of honest men.