IT is a principle of Magna Carta, and therefore of the trial by jury, (for all parts of Magna Carta must be construed together,) that no judge or other officer appointed by the king, shall preside in jury trials, in criminal cases, or "pleas of the crown.
Spooner emphasizes the importance of the Magna Carta in protecting the integrity of jury trials.
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The will, or the pretended will, of the majority, is the last lurking place of tyranny at the present day.
And yet these reasons, which are really no reasons at all, are the only ones, so far as I know, that have ever been offered for this absurd and brutal doctrine.
One answer is, that this power, which juries have of judging of the law, is not a power of absolute decision in all cases.
What else than ignorance of the law is it that excuses persons under the years of discretion, and men of imbecile minds?