James Otis Quotations

James Otis was a lawyer in colonial Massachusetts who was an early advocate of the political views that led to the American Revolution.

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An act against the Constitution is void; an act against natural equity is void.
- Argument Against the Writs of Assistance (1761)

ALL PRECEDENTS ARE UNDER THE CONTROUL OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE LAW... No Acts of Parliament can establish such a writ [writ of assistance enabling British search of homes for no reason]: … it would be void, "AN ACT AGAINST THE CONSTITUTION IS VOID." Vid. Viner. But … special writs may be granted on oath and probable suspicion.
- Massachusetts Spy (April 29, 1773)(Principle of judicial review. In addition, much like the prohibition of unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution).

... [Slave] trade … is the most shocking violation of the law of nature, has a direct tendency to diminish … liberty, and makes every dealer in it a tyrant, from the director of an African company to the petty chapman [peddler]…. It is a clear truth, that those who every day barter away other men's liberty will soon care little for their own.
- The Rights of British Colonists Asserted (1764)

If we are not represented, we are slaves.
- Report on the Sugar Act (13 June 1764)

Taxation without representation is tyranny.
- Attributed as a statement by Otis in court in 1761, but no record of the remark has been found prior to notes written by John Adams in 1820.

A man's house is his castle.
- Not original to Otis, but a familiar proverb dating as far back as the 16th century