On the record
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.
Said by
Lysander Spooner
Source
gutenberg.orgLysander Spooner: “If the authority be vested in the government, the governmnt is absolute, and the people have no liberties except such as…”
Editor's note · Context
He warns that if the government holds the authority to define liberties, it can become tyrannical.
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More from Lysander Spooner
But there is no reason why a judge should have the power of punishing, for contempt, any more than for any other offence.
Why should they not have such an administration of justice as they desire, and can understand?
In this manner all unjust laws are established, and made operative against the rights of the people.
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.