Political Quotes

Lysander Spooner: If the laws of the king were imperative upon a jury in civil suits, the king might enact laws giving one man's property…

On the record
If the laws of the king were imperative upon a jury in civil suits, the king might enact laws giving one man's property to another, or confiscating it to the king himself, and authorizing civil suits to obtain possession of it.
Said by
Lysander Spooner

Editor's note · Context

Spooner illustrates the potential dangers of juries being bound by unjust laws, which could lead to property theft.

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Practically speaking, no government knows any limits to its power, except the endurance of the people.

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Yet the codes of the most celebrated kings are very small, and were little more than compilations of immemorial customs.

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It would be a solecism and absurdity in government to allow such consequences as these.

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