Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men, Witchcrafts, infallible Proofs of Guilt in such as are accused with that Crime (1692); a variant of this has become known as Blackstone's formulation, through its expression by William Blackstone in Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765 - 1769).
“U. S. News: You criticize the Miranda ruling, which gives suspects the right to have a lawyer present before police questioning. Shouldn't people, who may be innocent, have such protection?
Meese: Suspects who are innocent of a crime should. But the thing is, you don't have many suspects who are innocent of a crime. That's contradictory. If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect.”
As quoted in "Justice under Reagan: Reagan seeks judges with 'traditional approach" (14 October 1985), U.S. News & World Report, p. 67
1980s
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Edwin Meese III 3
American presidential advisor 1931Related quotes
Last words http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0823.html (April 15, 1920)
“Innocence is very far from finding as much protection as crime.”
Il s'en faut bien que l'innocence ne trouve autant de protection que le crime.
Maxim 465.
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims (1665–1678)
1770s, Boston Massacre trial (1770)
Context: It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished.
But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, "whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection," and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever.
Rome, or Reason? A Reply to Cardinal Manning. Part I. The North American Review (1888)
In Adams' Argument for the Defense in the case of Rex v. Wemms: Suffolk Superior Court, Boston, 3-4 December, 1770; source "The Adams Papers", http://rotunda.upress.virginia.edu/
1770s