Jury Quotes - page 8

The progress of science in furnishing the government with means of espionage is not likely to stop with wire tapping. Ways may some day be developed by which the government, without removing papers from secret drawers, can reproduce them in court, and by which it will be enabled to expose to a jury the most intimate occurrences of the home. Advances in the psychic and related sciences may bring means of exploring unexpressed beliefs, thoughts and emotions. 'That places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer' was said by James Otis of much lesser intrusions than these. 1 To Lord Camden a far slighter intrusion seemed 'subversive of all the comforts of society. (Louis Brandeis)
If a jury have not the right to judge between the government and those who disobey its laws, and resist its oppressions, the government is absolute, and the people, legally speaking, are slaves. View quote
Lysander Spooner
But for their right to judge of the law, and the justice of the law, juries would be no protection to an accused person, even as to matters of fact; for, if the government can dictate to a jury any law whatever, in a criminal case, it can certainly dictate to them the laws of evidence. View quote
Lysander Spooner
If the jury have no right to judge of the justice of a law of the government, they plainly can do nothing to protect the people against the oppressions of the government; for there are no oppressions which the government may not authorize by law. View quote
Lysander Spooner
The trial by jury is a trial by 'the country,' in contradistinction to a trial by the government. The jurors are drawn by lot from the mass of the people, for the very purpose of having all classes of minds and feelings, that prevail among the people at large, represented in the jury. View quote
Lysander Spooner
The law of England has established trial by judge and jury in the conviction that it is the mode best calculated to ascertain the truth. View quote
Jeremy Bentham
"Gay panic” is insidious. It appeals to juries, who are allegedly made up of random members of the community. What defense lawyers know is that most people are repulsed by the idea of gay -especially gay male- sex. Those lawyers know that a claim of defense against an alleged gay sexual advance will win points with the jury of peers. View quote
Jeffrey Montgomery
[T]ake it to be the bounden duty of the Judge to lay down the law as it strikes him, and that of the jury to accede to it, unless they have superior knowledge on the subject. View quote
Sir John Bayley, 1st Baronet
If I were master of eloquence I would not make the decision of this cause a stage upon which I would display that eloquence. Those things which are very proper for advocates to do, become very improper for the Judge, who has nothing to do, but to state to the jury the short grounds upon which the cause ought to proceed. View quote
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon
The wishes of every human man are, that guilt may not be fixed upon any man; but I confess I am one of those who have not the weakness-which weakness, a Judge at least, and a jury, must get rid of, before they fit themselves to fill the respective stations which they are to fill in the administration of the justice of the country- I say, therefore, I am not one of those who wish under false compassion, inconsistent with the administration of criminal justice, that a person on whom guilt is fairly fixed, should escape the punishment which the law annexes to his guilt. View quote
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon
I do not know how far I ought to sit here and suffer a gentleman at the bar to bring forward parts of the Bible in this way. It is for you, gentlemen of the jury, to say whether you wish to hear them read. (Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon)
Really I wish I was more acquainted than I am, with the course of criminal jurisdiction-if the question had never been decided, I should have extreme doubts upon it, and those extreme doubts which I should have would lead me in a criminal case to do otherwise than I should do in a civil case-in every civil case [I speak in the hearing of a great many professional gentlemen] wherever I have serious doubts, I follow the doctrine which I have collected to be laid down by Lord Hardwicke; I receive the evidence, giving the jury the best instruction I can upon the effect of it; and I do it in the case of civil proceedings, without running the risk of doing any hurt, because if I receive it improperly, a season will come when the Court can correct my error. View quote
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon
I have been reminded that I sit here as counsel for the defendant. I certainly do so, so far as to interpose between him and the counsel for the prosecution, and to see that no improper use of the law is made against him, and that no improper evidence is given to the jury: but the Judge has another task to perform, which is that of assisting the jury in the administration of justice. View quote
Lloyd Kenyon, 1st Baron Kenyon
The jury, passing on the prisoner's life, may in the sworn twelve have a thief or two guiltier than him they try. View quote
William Shakespeare
In our system, grand juries take every charge, every lie, and they try to sort the truth from the lies, and then they move forward into the system. And that's how the system ought to work. We should respect the secrecy of the grand jury so they can sort through what's true and what's not. And someone is leaking, and if they are leaking from the grand jury investigation, then that's a violation of the law. View quote
Paul Begala
If the troubles from environmentalists cannot be solved in the jury box or at the ballot box, perhaps the cartridge box should be used. View quote
James G. Watt
Apple has recently done more with the tablet format with the iPod Touch and iPhone then any other vendor but the jury is still largely out on this format with challenging devices from RIM, Palm, and Google often showcasing that keyboards are necessary. View quote
Rob Enderle
It is certainly a rule that the jury must find facts, and not merely evidence of facts. View quote
Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet
There is no distinction between a good jury and a common jury. View quote
Sir Francis Buller, 1st Baronet
I think that it must in every case depend upon the nature of the transaction, whether the fact not disclosed is such, that it is impliedly represented not to exist; and that must generally be a question of fact proper for a jury. View quote
Colin Blackburn, Baron Blackburn
It would be enough for me to have the system of a jury of twelve versus the system of one judge as a basis for preferring the U.S. to the Soviet Union. I would prefer the country you can leave to the country you cannot. (Joseph Brodsky)
A jury too often has at least one member who is more ready to hang the panel than the traitor. View quote
Abraham Lincoln
So now we stand at an epochal moment. The debate is over. The case has gone to the jury, and the jury is history. Events will soon reveal who was right, Bush or Chirac. View quote
David Brooks
ITEM: The Mike Tyson trial. The hotel in which the jury is sequestered goes ablaze. Two firefighters die saving its occupants. The trial of Mike Tyson made us increasingly aware of men-as-rapists. The firefighters' deaths did not make us increasingly aware of men-as-saviors. We were more aware of one man doing harm than of two men saving... View quote
Warren Farrell
John Baldwin was Examined before the Reconstruction Committee - He was asked if Jeff Davis could be tried before a Jury in the South & convicted of Treason. He replied - Yes - that Mr. Davis (& himself) had been guilty of treason & if they were tried for it he saw no reason why they shouldn't be convicted. Tell Hugh (for me) that the difference between me & him is that I committed Treason & am proud of it - he committed Treason & is ashamed of it. Baldwin's testimony was in 1867. Dick Smith in [struck: the] an Editorial [inserted: in the Enquirer] was very severe on him [struck: on him]: Baldwin replied in a letter. If Sam Yost has files of his paper no doubt you can find it. View quote
John S. Mosby