James Otis Quotes
It is a power that places the liberty of every man in the hands of every petty officer.
James Otis, 1725-1783, Attorney & Member of the Colonial Massachusetts legislature Referring to the warrants and searches and seizures which individual policemen and other minor officers could make without any probably cause or any judicial or other objective supervision 1761
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In the Watergate crisis H. R. Haldeman had asked for a Presidential pardon. A discussion of the request was held by some White House staff members:
He was expelled from Parliament for such.
This illustrated the problem with Nazi Germany where Hitler was elected by the people. In a Constitutional democracy such as the United States, when an elected President attempts to cut away constitutionally insured freedoms, there is public opinion, the press, a Congress and a Supreme Court to check him as occurred in the George W. Bush Administration over wiretapping, torture, and handing of war captives. These were checked, but they were minor and trivial compared to Nazi Germany’s abuse of freedom. In Germany, Hitler weakened or destroyed all those who might check his power and therein lies the essential difference. The despot must eliminate or weaken the checks on him. In the American democracy, the Congress finally checked John Adams’ Alien & Sedition Act as did public opinion by turning him out of office after one term. But in each case, in democracy or dictatorship, the same argument is often made if the elected leader impinges on some freedoms: it is legitimate because he represents the will of the people. Spencer and many others have always disagreed.
He was tried and executed in secret in 1953.
James Otis Jr. was an American lawyer, political activist, pamphleteer, and legislator in Boston, a member of the Massachusetts provincial assembly, and an early advocate of the Patriot views against the policy of Parliament which led to the American Revolution. His well-known catchphrase "Taxation without Representation is tyranny" became the basic Patriot position.
