Showing posts with label criminal law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label criminal law. Show all posts
Monday, January 15, 2024

Blackstone condemned the execution of Algernon Sidney for high treason

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“Treason, proditio , in its very name (which is borrowed from the French ) imports a betraying, treachery, or breach of faith. It therefore ...
Wednesday, October 25, 2023

The Constitution of Massachusetts influenced the Bill of Rights

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“All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjo...
Monday, July 10, 2023

The most serious crimes that anyone can commit (according to Blackstone)

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“Of crimes injurious to the persons of private subjects, the most principal and important is the offence of taking away that life , which is...
Sunday, July 10, 2022

Some thoughts from Blackstone about punishing criminals

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“I proceed in the next place to consider the general nature of punishments : which are evils or inconveniences consequent upon crimes and m...
Friday, October 25, 2019

A review of “12 Angry Men” (1957 movie)

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“You've listened to a long and complex case, murder in the first degree. Premeditated murder is the most serious charge tried in our c...
Saturday, July 27, 2019

What is “corruption of blood, or forfeiture” from an attainder of treason?

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“The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfei...
Sunday, December 16, 2018

The Habeas Corpus Act and the English Bill of Rights influenced our Constitution

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“The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may r...
Monday, December 10, 2018

How did the Massachusetts Body of Liberties influence the Bill of Rights?

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“No man shall be put to death without the testimony of two or three witnesses or that which is equivalent thereunto.” – The Massachuset...
Friday, June 15, 2018

When King John signed the Magna Carta, it was like signing a surrender document …

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“No freemen shall be taken or imprisoned or disseised or exiled or in any way destroyed , nor will we go upon him nor send upon him, exce...
Tuesday, June 12, 2018

How did the Virginia Declaration of Rights influence the Bill of Rights?

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“That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights , of which, when they enter into a state of...
Thursday, June 7, 2018

The Petition of Right influenced the United States Bill of Rights

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“The history of  Great Britain  is the one with which we are in general the best acquainted, and it gives us  many useful lessons . We may...
Friday, December 15, 2017

The tyrannical police state: The worst nightmare of the Founding Fathers

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"A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee justice, and be found in another state, shall, on...

Actually, the death penalty IS constitutional (as the Fifth Amendment makes clear)

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"The principle that there is a  presumption of innocence in favor of the accused  is the undoubted law, axiomatic and elementary, and...
Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Even presidents are not above the law in the United States

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"Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour...
Monday, December 15, 2014

The Bill of Rights: historical context and strict construction

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"The enumeration [or "listing"] in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others ...