Sabitlenmiş Tweet
Thomas Jefferson wrote that the law of self-preservation, i.e., saving the republic, is the supreme law and our highest duty:
@POTUS @AGPamBondi @FBIDirectorKash @SecWar
On the written law:
"A strict observance of the written laws is doubtless one of the high duties of a good citizen: but it is not the highest. The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation. To lose our country by a scrupulous adherence to written law, would be to lose the law itself, with life, liberty, property, and all those who are enjoying them with us; thus absurdly sacrificing the end to the means." [Letter to J. B. Colvin, Sept 20, 1810, in Thomas J. Randolph, "Memoir, correspondence, and private papers of Thomas Jefferson Vol IV." Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley, 1829, p.153]
On judicial bias:
"I repeat that I do not charge the judges with wilful and ill-intentioned error; but honest error must be arrested where it's toleration leads to public ruin. As, for the safety of society, we commit honest maniacs to Bedlam, so judges should be withdrawn from their bench, whose erroneous biases are leading us to dissolution. It may indeed injure them in fame or in fortune; but it saves the republic, which is the first and supreme law." [From the Autobiography, in Appleby & Ball, "Thomas Jefferson: Political Writings." Cambridge University Press, 1999, pp.357-358]
English
