American - Judge | April 5, 1816 - October 13, 1890
Of all the powers conferred upon government, that of taxation is most liable to abuse.
Samuel Freeman Miller
GovernmentAbuseTaxationMost
Louisiana commenced her existence as a state under a code of laws differing from all the other states which were founded on the common law, in that its code, a new one, was founded mainly on the Civil Law and the Code Napoleon of France.
LawNewExistenceHerCommonLaws
Custody and guardianship by the parent of his child does not arise under the Constitution, laws or treaties of the United States and is not dependent on them.
ChildConstitutionParentLawsHis
A vile and overbearing temper becomes sometimes, in one long accustomed to the exercise of power, unendurable to those who are subject to its humors.
PowerExerciseLongSometimesTemper
May it be long before the people of the United States shall cease to take a deep and pervading interest in the Fourth of July, as the birthday of our national life, or the event which then occurred shall be subordinated to any other of our national history.
LifeBirthdayHistoryPeopleDeep
History teaches us, in no mistaken language, how often customs and practices, which were originated without lawful warrant, and opposed to the sound construction of the law, have come to overload and pervert it, as commentators on the text of Holy Scripture have established doctrines wholly at variance with its true spirit.
HistoryLawConstructionLanguageUs
The value of a decision as a precedent is very much enhanced by the care with which it has been considered, and if the opinion itself shows that other decisions of the same court, or of other courts upon the same point, have been reviewed and examined, it adds to the value of the decision made on each consideration.
DecisionValueOpinionCareSame
It is a very great mistake, common to counsel, and especially to young counsel, to consider that a decision of any court must necessarily command the respect of another.
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It is a very great mistake, and a very common one, even for well-read persons, to adopt the idea that the progress of the human race in the science of government, in the arts of civilization and refinement, and in the establishment of morality and religion, has been constantly and steadily towards improvement and perfection.
ScienceGreatImprovementProgress
Man is essentially a selfish creature. The differences in the degree with which this developed are infinite.
ManSelfishDifferencesInfinite
The Constitution of the United States, like all systems of government which are permanent, had its origin in the history and necessities of the people through whose instrumentality and for whose benefit it was formed.
HistoryGovernmentPeoplePermanent
A constitution, in the American sense of the word, is a written instrument by which the fundamental powers of the government are established, limited, and defined, and by which these powers are distributed among several departments, for their more safe and useful exercise, for the benefit of the body politic.
GovernmentConstitutionAmericanBody
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