



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







AN ESSAY

ON THE

TRIAL BY JURY.


BY LYSANDER SPOONER.


 BOSTON:
 JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY.
 CLEVELAND, OHIO:
 JEWETT, PROCTOR & WORTHINGTON.
 1852.


 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by
 LYSANDER SPOONER,
 In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.


NOTICE TO ENGLISH PUBLISHERS.

The author claims the copyright of this book in England, on Common Law
principles, without regard to acts of parliament; and if the main
principle of the book itself be true, viz., that no legislation, in
conflict with the Common Law, is of any validity, his claim is a legal
one. He forbids any one to reprint the book without his consent.


 Stereotyped by
 HOBART & ROBBINS;
 New England Type and Stereotype Foundery,
 BOSTON.


NOTE.

This volume, it is presumed by the author, gives what will generally be
considered satisfactory evidence,--though not all the evidence,--of what
the Common Law trial by jury really is. In a future volume, if it should
be called for, it is designed to corroborate the grounds taken in this;
give a concise view of the English constitution; show the
unconstitutional character of the existing government in England, and
the unconstitutional means by which the trial by jury has been broken
down in practice; prove that, neither in England nor the United States,
have legislatures ever been invested by the people with any authority to
impair the powers, change the oaths, or (with few exceptions) abridge
the jurisdiction, of juries, or select jurors on any other than Common
Law principles; and, consequently, that, in both countries, legislation
is still constitutionally subordinate to the discretion and consciences
of Common Law juries, in all cases, both civil and criminal, in which
juries sit. The same volume will probably also discuss several political
and legal questions, which will naturally assume importance if the trial
by jury should be reestablished.




CONTENTS.

                                                                       PAGE


CHAPTER I.   THE RIGHT OF JURIES TO JUDGE OF THE JUSTICE OF LAWS,         5

             SECTION 1,                                                   5

             SECTION 2,                                                  11


CHAPTER II.  THE TRIAL BY JURY, AS DEFINED BY MAGNA CARTA,               20

             SECTION 1. _The History of Magna Carta_,                    20

             SECTION 2. _The Language of Magna Carta_,                   25


CHAPTER III.  ADDITIONAL PROOFS OF THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF JURORS,      51

              SECTION 1. _Weakness of the Regal Authority_,              51

              SECTION 2. _The Ancient Common Law Juries were mere
              Courts of Conscience_,                                     63

              SECTION 3. _The Oaths of Jurors_,                          85

              SECTION 4. _The Right of Jurors to fix the Sentence_,      91

              SECTION 5. _The Oaths of Judges_,                          98

              SECTION 6. _The Coronation Oath_,                         102


CHAPTER IV.   THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF JURIES IN CIVIL SUITS,           110


CHAPTER V.    OBJECTIONS ANSWERED,                                      128


CHAPTER VI.   JURIES OF THE PRESENT DAY ILLEGAL,                        142


CHAPTER VII.  ILLEGAL JUDGES,                                           157


CHAPTER VIII. THE FREE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE,                       172


CHAPTER IX.   THE CRIMINAL INTENT,                                      178


CHAPTER X.    MORAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR JURORS,                          189


CHAPTER XI.   AUTHORITY OF MAGNA CARTA,                                 192


CHAPTER XII.  LIMITATIONS IM