Lawful Authority Quotes
Although written in 1770, it was not formally published and available until 1774
He was arguing that the government should be able to prohibit public demonstrations on the grounds that the protesters are “irresponsible power.” This position has been taken sometimes by the American right, and is common in all totalitarian states.
This ancient observation was rephrased most forcefully by Andrew Jackson in his 1832 attack on Chief Justice John Marshall.
Several years before the Battle of Bunker Hill, revolutionary activity had already broken out in the American colonies—See {634132} for an example. This law gave the British authorities much more “clout” in dealing with the “seditious” American activities. It protected English law enforcement officials from being tried in local Colonial courts for murder or assault in putting down insurrections. George Washington and other Patriots were outraged over this law. See {634131}.
Police have been exceeding their authority under the law of the land for centuries in most nations. In the century that has passed since she wrote this quotation, there have been many reforms in American law enforcement. The situation is better but many police still exceed their authority. For centuries, most politicians have not wanted to curtail or restrict the police regardless of their human rights abuses, and most citizens did not realize the extent of police abuse. Modern media policies and technology has shed much light on the problem.
