Lysander Spooner was an 18th century libertarian, individualist anarchist, entrepreneur, political philosopher, abolitionist, supporter of the labor movement, and legal theorist. He founded the American Letter Main Company and tried to compete with the US post office until forced to stop by the US government. In the Essay on the Trial By Jury Spooner argues for "Jury Nullification," which says that in a free society a jury has the authority to rule on the facts of the case, and can rule on the legitimacy of the law under which the case is tried. This would allow juries to refuse to convict a...
Lysander Spooner was an 18th century libertarian, individualist anarchist, entrepreneur, political philosopher, abolitionist, supporter of the labor m...
Originally published in 1870, this essay by the American anarchist and political philosopher Lysander Spooner is here reproduced. Described by Murray Rothbard as the greatest case for anarchist political philosophy ever written, Spooner s lengthy essay is still referenced by anarchists and philosophers today. In it, he argues that the American Civil War violated the US Constitution, thus rendering it null and void. An indispensable read for political historians both amateur and professional alike. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now...
Originally published in 1870, this essay by the American anarchist and political philosopher Lysander Spooner is here reproduced. Described by Murray ...
"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain --- that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist." Lysander Spooner
"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain --- that it has either authorized such a government as we have had...
In "An Essay on Trial by Jury," Lysander Spooner defends the doctrine of jury nullification, which holds that in a free society a trial jury not only has the authority to rule on the facts of the case, but also on the legitimacy of the law under which the case is tried, and which would allow juries to refuse to convict if they regard the law they are asked to convict under as illegitimate.
In "An Essay on Trial by Jury," Lysander Spooner defends the doctrine of jury nullification, which holds that in a free society a trial jury not only ...
