On the record
It is clearly impossible, in the nature of things, for a jury to try, a question of fact, without trying every question of law on which the fact depends.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “It is clearly impossible, in the nature of things, for a jury to try, a question of fact, without trying every question…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner argues that juries cannot determine facts without also addressing the legal questions involved.
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More from Lysander Spooner
In nearly or quite all the States of the United States the juries are illegal, for one or the other of the same reasons that make the juries in England illegal.
It was simply, that they would neither convict the innocent, nor acquit the guilty.
Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.
That the legislation of the king was of no authority over a jury, is further proved by the oath taken by the kings at their coronation.