Thomas Jefferson Quotes
Law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.
Thomas Jefferson, 1743-1826, 3rd President of the United States (Democratic Republican, VA), Letter to Isaac H. Tiffany, 1819
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
The Canadian Courts did not agree with him on these points. The Indians had to register their guns also. See {588005}.
While it is true that the English wanted a legal system that would enforce modern western views of business and property, there was another major reason that the British wanted special courts. There were many British businessmen and civil service who insisted on their rights as Englishmen. These were not provided by traditional Islamic law (Sharia). On the other hand the British wanted to give the Egyptians a great deal of autonomy and the compromise was to have two legal systems—one for each culture. This is a solution that has existed many times and many places. The most common is when the U. S. has a military base in a foreign country and agreement is entered into as to what laws will govern the Americans. Even in the United States it was common for many years for Indians accused of a crime on an Indian reservation to be tried by the tribal council while whites accused of the same crime would be tried before a Federal Magistrate. Even today there are conflicts between the legal systems and traditions of some tribes and the United States Constitution which also protects all Indians.
Three Chicago Aldermen had marched on an art school demanding that a painting they found offensive be removed from public display. The police seized the painting, prompting a lawsuit.
“Familia” in Latin meant in this context, the community or the citizens as opposed to the officials, The Bishop determined the former was under attack by the officials who in the probating of wills and estates would take bribes or levy taxes under “laws” that they would make up on the spot bilking the rightful inheritors of the property and wealth of the deceased. The principle that laws and regulations must be written down in advance and not otherwise, is a fundamental part of Western law today, But as this quotation shows, it was not always such.
What was particularly interesting about this quotation is that Pinkney was a political leader of Maryland, a slave state. He saw the injustice and immorality of slavery but like many others of our founding fathers assumed that ending slavery would infringe on the property rights of the slave holders. Others argued that there can be no right to deny others their basic rights—property and wealth are subordinate to natural rights. See {632258} and {632259} for more on this point.
Thomas Jefferson was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He had previously served as the second vice president of the United States under John Adams between 1797 and 1801. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, motivating American colonists to break from the Kingdom of Great Britain and form a new nation; he produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national levels.
