An Essay on the Trial by Jury

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spooner, Lysander, 1808-1887

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource : multiple file formats

Place of Publication:

Salt Lake City, UT : Project Gutenberg,

Summary:

"An Essay on the Trial by Jury" by Lysander Spooner is a legal and philosophical treatise written in the mid-19th century. The work explores the fundamental rights and responsibilities of juries, emphasizing their power to judge not only the facts of a case but also the justice of the laws themselves. Spooner argues that this right is essential to protect individual liberties from governmental oppression, framing the jury system as a bulwark against tyranny. At the start of the essay, Spooner establishes the historical context of the trial by jury, tracing its roots back to the Magna Carta and articulating how this mechanism is intended to empower the people's judgment over the government's authority. He insists that for a jury to function as a "palladium of liberty," it must be allowed to hold laws as invalid if deemed unjust or oppressive. Spooner warns against the dangers of a juror's ability to be influenced by governmental edicts and argues that the integrity of the jury is paramount to maintaining the freedoms of individuals against the actions of the state. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

Credits:

Produced by Susan Goble, Curtis Weyant, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net

Notes:

Reading ease score: 48.6 (College-level). Difficult to read.

Release date is 2010-06-27