The Volokh Conspiracy

Mostly law professors | Sometimes contrarian | Often libertarian | Always independent

Slippery Slope Arguments

Slippery Slope Arguments in History: James Madison

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From Madison's Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments (1786):

[I]t is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.