688
Stevens, J., dissenting
sion of this character.37 As Thomas Paine warned, an "avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty" because it leads a nation "to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws." 38 To counter that tendency, he reminds us:
"He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." 39
I respectfully dissent.
37 As Judge Mansfield presciently observed in a case not unlike the one before us today: "Society is the ultimate loser when, in order to convict the guilty, it uses methods that lead to decreased respect for the law." United States v. Toscanino, 500 F. 2d 267, 274 (CA2 1974).
38 2 The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine 588 (P. Foner ed. 1945).
39 Ibid.
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