JOHN FORTESCUE
(Sir John Fortescue)
This is the first appearance of the principle which guides law enforcement in most of America and the other industrialized democracies around the world. Texas and some other localities have rejected this notion and see the occasional execution of an innocent person the cost we must pay in order to preserve law and order.
Sir John Fortescue of Ebrington in Gloucestershire, was Chief Justice of the King's Bench and was the author of De Laudibus Legum Angliae (Commendation of the Laws of England), first published posthumously circa 1543, an influential treatise on English law. In the course of Henry VI's reign, Fortescue was appointed one of the governors of Lincoln's Inn three times and served as a Member of Parliament from 1421 to 1437. He became one of the King's Serjeants during the Easter term of 1441, and subsequently served as Chief Justice of the King's Bench from 25 January 1442 to Easter term 1460.
