There would be something
like certainty, because every man has himself something like
definite and clear opinions, and also knows something of the
opinions of his neighbors, on matters of justice. And he would
know that no statute, unless it were so clearly just as to command
the unanimous assent of twelve men, who should be taken at random
from the whole community, could be enforced so as to take from him
his reputation, property, liberty, or life. What greater certainty can
men require or need, as to the laws under which they are to live?
If a statute were enacted by a legislature, a man, in order to know
what was its true interpretation, whether it were constitutional, and
whether it would be enforced, would not be under the necessity of
waiting for years until some suit had arisen and been carried through
all the stages of judicial proceeding, to a final decision. He would
need only to use his own reason as to its meaning and its justice,
and then talk with his neighbors on the same points.
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