Of the Great Charter, the trial by jury is the vital part, and the only part that places the liberties of the people in their own keeping.
Lysander Spooner: “Of the Great Charter, the trial by jury is the vital part, and the only part that places the liberties of the people in…”
Editor's note · Context
Spooner emphasizes the importance of the trial by jury as a safeguard for individual liberties.
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They do not tell us that they have established infallible supreme courts, to whom they refer all questions as to the legality of their acts, and that they do nothing that is not sanctioned by these courts.
In short, they acknowledge themselves hostes humani generis: enemies of the human race.
They acknowledge it to be our unquestioned right and duty to kill them, if we can; that they expect nothing else, than that we will kill them, if we can; and that we are only fools and cowards, if we do not kill them, by any and every…
They do not attempt to deceive us, or mislead us, or reconcile us to their doings, by any such pretences, impostures, or insults as these.