The jury, not being bound, in a criminal case, by the authority of an unjust law, judge the act on its merits, and acquit the defendant thus declaring that he was not bound to submit to the same law which the jury, in the civil suit, had, by their judgment, declared that he was bound to submit to.
Spooner asserts that juries can judge the merits of an act in criminal cases, independent of unjust laws.
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In this manner all unjust laws are established, and made operative against the rights of the people.
Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.
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 was a principle of the Common Law, as it is of the law of nature, and of common sense, that no man can be taxed without his personal consent.