Juries ought to take their law from the bench only; but it is our business that they should hear nothing from the bench but what is agreeable to the principles of the Constitution.
Edmund Burke: “Juries ought to take their law from the bench only; but it is our business that they should hear nothing from the bench…”
Editor's note · Context
Burke asserts that juries should only receive legal guidance that aligns with constitutional principles.
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If any of them should happen to propose a scheme of liberty soberly limited, and defined with proper qualifications, he will be immediately outbid by his competitors, who will produce something more splendidly popular.
To establish a current circulating credit upon any land-bank, under any circumstances whatsoever, has hitherto proved difficult at the very least.
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