"Vices are those acts by which a man harms himself or his property. Crimes are those acts by which one man harms the person or property of another…
"To punish men for their vices…is a sheer and utter absurdity for any government claiming to derive its power wholly from the grant of the governed…because it would be granting away their own right to seek their own happiness."
"Everybody wishes to be protected, in his person and property, against the aggressions of other men. But nobody wishes to be protected… against himself…"
Lysander Spooner
Reading through the work of Lysander Spooner is refreshing in a world were mountains of official government lies are routinely believed and enforced. Not only does the information offer that refreshing light of truth, it offers the lawful means to the lawful ends.
"The question, then, between trial by jury, as thus described, and trial by the government, is simply a question between liberty and despotism. The authority to judge what are the powers of the government, and what the liberties of the people, must necessarily be vested in one or the other of the parties themselves - the government, or the people; because there is no third party to whom it can be entrusted. If the authority be vested in the government, the government is absolute, and the people have no liberties except such as the government sees fit to indulge them with. If, on the other hand, that authority be vested in the people, then the people have all liberties, (as against the government,) except such as substantially the whole people (through a jury) choose to disclaim; and the government can exercise no power except such as substantially the whole people (through a jury) consent that it may exercise." Essay on The Trial by Jury, Lysander Spooner, 1852