On the contrary, when they required him to renounce forever the power to punish any freeman, unless by the consent of his peers, they intended those powers should judge of, and try, the whole case on its merits, independently of all arbitrary legislation, or judicial authority, on the part of the king.
Spooner asserts that the intention behind limiting the king's power was to ensure that juries could judge cases on their merits, free from arbitrary rule.
Share
More from Lysander Spooner
The people are no more arrayed against themselves, when a jury puts its veto upon a statute, which the other tribunals have sanctioned, than they are when the same veto is exercised by the representatives, the senate, the executive, or the…
One answer is, that this power, which juries have of judging of the law, is not a power of absolute decision in all cases.
It would also be making them consent to what they regard as the destruction of their own rights.
It would be a solecism and absurdity in government to allow such consequences as these.