Judge And Jury Quotes

• A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.

  Robert Frost

  Funny, Humor, Law

  "Fire and Ice: The Art and Thought of Robert Frost". Book by Lawrence Thompson, 1942.

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• When you go into court you are putting your fate into the hands of twelve people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

  Norm Crosby

  Funny, Hilarious, Smart

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• The jury passing on the prisoner's life may in the sworn twelve have a thief or two guiltier than him they try.

  William Shakespeare

  Passing On, Two, Justice

  'Measure for Measure' (1604) act 2, sc. 1, l. 17

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• I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Anchors, Law

  Thomas Jefferson, Henry Augustine Washington (1859). “The Writings of Thomas Jefferson: Correspondence”, p.71

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• A fox should not be on the jury at a goose's trial.

  Thomas Fuller

  Funny, Humor, Trials

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• I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.

  Groucho Marx

  Funny, Marriage, Sarcastic

  "Biography/Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Laughter, Humorous

  A Little Book in C Major ch. 4 (1916)

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• It's not our job to play judge and jury, to determine who is worthy of our kindness and who is not. We just need to be kind, unconditionally and without ulterior motive, even - or rather, especially - when we'd prefer not to be.

  Josh Radnor

  Jobs, Kindness, Play

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• It is not only the juror's right, but his duty to find the verdict according to his own best understanding, judgment and conscience, though in direct opposition to the instruction of the court.

  John Adams

  War, Understanding, Drug

  "Justice Often Served By Jury Nullification". www.foxnews.com. August 01, 2005.

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• If you violate Nature's laws you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman.

  Luther Burbank

  Law, Judging, Environmental

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• 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.

  Jeremy Bentham

  Law, Judging, Trials

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• If the question [before justices of the peace] relate to any point of public liberty, or if it be one of those in which the judges may be suspected of bias, the jury undertake to decide both law and fact.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Law, Judging, Justice

  Thomas Jefferson (2010). “The Works of Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia II, Correspondence 1782-1786”, p.37, Cosimo, Inc.

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• It would be an absurdity for jurors to be required to accept the judge's view of the law, against their own opinion, judgment, and conscience.

  John Adams

  Views, Law, Judging

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• Jurors should acquit, even against the judge's instruction . . . if exercising their judgment with discretion and honesty they have a clear conviction the charge of the court is wrong.

  Alexander Hamilton

  Honesty, War, Exercise

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• There has been no clearer principle of English or American constitutional law than that, in criminal cases, it is not only the power and duty of juries to judge what are the facts, what is the law, and what is the moral intent of the accused; but that it is also their power, and their primary and paramount duty, to judge the justice of the law, and to hold all laws invalid, that are, in their opinion, unjust or oppressive, and find all persons guiltless in violating, or resisting the execution of, such laws.

  Lysander Spooner

  Life, War, Law

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• If a juror feels that the statute involved in any criminal offence is unfair, or that it infringes upon the defendant's natural god-given unalienable or constitutional rights, then it is his duty to affirm that the offending statute is really no law at all and that the violation of it is no crime at all, for no one is bound to obey an unjust law.

  Harlan F. Stone

  Rights, Offending, Law

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• Ill try the whole cause, and condemn you to death.

  Lewis Carroll

  Trying, Causes, Ill

  'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' (1865) ch. 3

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• A grand jury would 'indict a ham sandwich,' if that's what you wanted.

  Sol Wachtler

  Law, Sandwiches, Ham

  "A Jurist's Prudence: A Q&a With Sol Wachtler". Interview with Morgan Pehme, cityandstateny.com. December 17, 2014.

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• When you couple this militarization of law enforcement with an erosion of civil liberties and due process that allows the police to become judge and jury - national security letters, no-knock searches, broad general warrants, pre-conviction forfeiture - we begin to have a very serious problem on our hands.

  Rand Paul

  Couple, Law, Erosion

  "We Must Demilitarize the Police" by Rand Paul, time.com. August 14, 2014.

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• Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea. However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas.

  Lewis F. Powell, Jr.

  Ideas, Judging, Competition

  Gertz v. Robert Welch, Inc. (1974)

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• He that wrongs a friend Wrongs himself more, and ever bears about A silent court of justice in his breast, Himself the judge and jury, and himself The prisoner at the bar ever condemned.

  Alfred Lord Tennyson

  Friendship, Justice, Judging

  Alfred, Lord Tennyson (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (Illustrated)”, p.1243, Delphi Classics

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• I became tired of submitting my art to a panel of corporate strategists who decide if it meets their standard of what gets into stores or not. It was quite simple for me: they act like judge and jury of my art, and that is unacceptable. I wanted to give it right to the public.

  Chuck D

  Art, Tired, Simple

  Interview with Antonino D'Ambrosio, progressive.org. July 20, 2005.

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• [Judge and Jury] is outstanding. I have
  learned more about the history of
  baseball, true history, than from
  anything I have ever read or heard
  about. [It's] research and documentation
  clarifies so many of the personalities
  and events that took place before 'my
  time' in the game. Jacques Barzun's
  quote: 'Whoever would know the heart
  and mind of America had better learn
  baseball' should be supplanted by [this]
  biography of Landis.

  Ralph Kiner

  Baseball, Heart, Games

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